


[vore] 101 Uses for Carrots

by DeckofDragons, wolfbunny



Series: Bluebunny Cherryberry Series [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Ecto-Genitalia (Undertale), Kidnapping, Knotting, M/M, Mpreg, Non-fatal vore, Soft Vore, Vore, collar and chain, involuntary confinement, kemonomimi skeletons, skelepreg, unsexy bondage, unwilling prey, willing prey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-03-10 04:38:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 19
Words: 49,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13495110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeckofDragons/pseuds/DeckofDragons, https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfbunny/pseuds/wolfbunny
Summary: Bunny!Stretch, a.k.a. Carrots, goes with Blueberry to see the Fell foxes, and comes to regret it very much.(A sequel to Bluebunny Cherryberry)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've used the Explicit rating and the Rape/Non-Con tag before, but this time I really mean it.
> 
> Many thanks to DeckofDragons for helping me give Carrots such a bad time ^w^
> 
> -wolfbunny

Red had swallowed Blueberry and fallen asleep on the couch, as he often did. The fox woke up to see Edge stretched out on the floor, his stomach bulging with a rabbit curled up tight inside—Carrots. For a moment Red thought he was dreaming, but when he fell off the couch, it hurt.  
  
“Boss? What happened?”  
  
“Good morning, Sans.”  
  
Red was pretty sure it was still the middle of the night, but he shook that question away. “I thought Carrots wouldn’t fit,” he said, “through your jaws.”  
  
“Yes, well, it wasn’t easy.” Edge sat up, stretching his arms.  
  
“I’m surprised he let ya do it.” Carrots had rarely come along with Blueberry even after Edge had grudgingly acknowledged the rabbits’ monsterhood, so Red had been surprised to see him here at all. But if he’d wanted to finally try Red and Blue’s unusual hobby, that explained why he’d come. “How long has he been in there?”  
  
“Less than half an hour. How long do you think it will take?”  
  
“What will take?”  
  
“To digest him.”  
  
“Boss! No!” Red hissed. “Don’t let Blueberry hear you say that.” Fortunately the smaller rabbit felt still and relaxed inside him, apparently sleeping through all the commotion. “And you’re not gonna do that. Come on and let him out.”  
  
“After I went to all the trouble of getting him in there?”  
  
“Boss, please!” Red kept his voice low but urgent.  
  
“What’s the point of eating something if you don’t digest it?”  
  
“I’ll explain it to ya after you let him go.” Red was worried that, if Edge intended to digest Carrots, the bunny could already be taking damage. The sooner he got out the better.  
  
“Foxes need to eat. That’s what bunnies are for. It’s a basic biological urge.”  
  
“That’s not what—” Red was scandalized on Blue’s behalf, but he supposed he couldn’t win a debate. Perhaps he could at least prove that bunnies were good for other things. “That’s not the only biological urge they can help with, y’know.”  
  
“Sans, you haven’t.”  
  
Red raised his hands in surrender. “Yeah, we have.”  
  
Edge stared at him, eye sockets wide, ears perked, but after a moment, he shrugged it off. “Ah, well. I don’t think Carrots is interested in me that way.”  
  
“I’m sure he’s even less interested in gettin’ digested.”  
  
“That’s different.”  
  
“No it’s not. He wouldn’ta let you do it if he thought you were gonna kill him.”  
  
“He didn’t exactly let me in the first place.” Edge glanced away, ears tilted back.  
  
“He didn’t? You mean you just—?”  
  
Edge nodded.  
  
“Boss. I know we had this talk.”  
  
“Not about rabbits.”  
  
“I thought it was pretty clear that the same principle applies.”  
  
“Well. In any case, I ate him and he’s eaten.”  
  
“Boss…” Red gave him a sad look.  
  
“It’s hard enough to find decent food around here already without giving up a meal for no reason.”  
  
“It’s not no reason, Boss.”  
  
“Where’s the advantage then?”  
  
“Blue’ll never forgive me if you hurt him.”  
  
“Maybe that’ll prompt you to eat him like a sensible fox.”  
  
“Boss, I’d never do that. He’s—like I just said, he’s my—my mate.”  
  
“Well, Carrots isn’t my mate.”  
  
“What if he could be?” Red knew it wasn’t his place to suggest it, but he was getting to the point where he would say anything just to get Carrots back alive.  
  
Edge shrugged, his tail waving against the floor.  
  
Red crept closer and placed his hand against the distended ecto-flesh. “Carrots? Can you hear me?”  
  
Carrots squirmed in response. Red thanked the stars that Blueberry was somehow still asleep.  
  
“Do you wanna—would you be interested in being—mated to Boss?” Red had kept it together pretty well up until now, but his skull flushed as he asked. If Carrots could hear him, he’d surely been listening long enough to understand the implied alternative.  
  
Carrots squirmed again under his hand.  
  
“He seems pretty enthusiastic, I’d say.” Red gave an encouraging grin to his brother.  
  
Edge looked intrigued. “All right. What do I do?”  
  
“Just dispel all your magic and he’ll hop out. Might wanna catch him before he falls on your spine or somethin’.”  
  
Edge dispelled his magic and Carrots was left as a sodden mass huddled against his spine. Red reached for him. “He prob’ly needs some time to recover from that, Boss. Let’s—”  
  
“Nonsense. You said he was enthusiastic.”  
  
“That don’t mean—”  
  
“So I’m not going to keep him waiting.” Edge pulled Carrots out of his erstwhile stomach and set him on the carpet, face down. He pulled the rabbit up onto his hands and knees, but Carrots sank down onto the carpet again. “Hmph.” Edge pulled the rabbit’s pelvis into the air, fondling his fluffy tail, then slipping down his pants.  
  
Red knelt down and met Carrots’ gaze, pleading for him to cooperate. Carrots just looked back up at him miserably.  
  
***  
  
“C’mon, Carrots. You gotta summon your magic now, y’know?” Red coaxed.  
  
Trembling, Stretch shook his head, a small movement in hopes of Edge not catching it. There were few things he’d prefer to do less. He was still damp from … being inside Edge’s stomach. It made him feel cold, though that wasn’t the only reason he was shivering.  
  
“Boss, I really don’t think he’s ready.” Red said. If he could convince Edge to _not_ do this, Stretch would forever be in his debt. Well, more than he already was, since Edge had intended to digest him. If Red hadn’t woken up and convinced Edge to let him out …  
  
“Don’t be absurd,” Edge said. There went that idea. “We can’t say we’re mates if we haven’t done this.”  
  
“You can do it, Carrots, c’mon.” Red reached out to stroke Stretch’s skull, an almost comforting gesture. “Good bunny.”  
  
Bowing his head and pressing his ears back, Stretch focused on his magic and forced it to form a pussy in his pelvis. It was dry; he’d never been less turned on than he was now. But this was better than getting eaten again and digested. Hopefully Blueberry would never find out about any of this.  
  
Edge grunted with satisfaction. “That’s better.”  
  
“I’ll give you some privacy then.” Red got to his feet and backed off as Edge got into position, leaning over Stretch’s back.  
  
Stretch did _not_ want to be alone with Edge for this, even if it meant Red would see it. But … Blueberry was presumably still in Red’s stomach—safe because Red had made it clear he didn’t want to hurt him—but what if he woke up? As Stretch had found out earlier, things could easily be heard through ecto-flesh even if it was a bit muffled. Blueberry knowing what was happening out here would be bad to say the very least. So he made no protest as Red retreated.  
  
Edge didn’t even wait for the sound of Red ascending the stairs to finish before lining his dick up with Stretch’s magic. Stretch was big for a bunny but Edge was big for a fox. Even just the tip of his erect magic felt like it’d be too much for Stretch to handle.  
  
Stretch opened his mouth, intending to ask, no, beg, for Edge to at least be gentle, but what came out instead was a yelp of surprise and pain as Edge thrust in. Not the least bit turned on and tense with fear, it hurt as his magic was forced to stretch around the intrusion. But at least it fit, right?  
  
Edge set the pace at fast and hard right away, unmindful of and perhaps not even noticing Stretch’s unwillingness and despair. Every thrust rocked his whole body forward as he balled his hands into the carpet beneath him in a desperate attempt to keep himself steady. If Edge was at all bothered by his tears or the uncontrollable sounds of pain coming out his mouth, he didn’t show it.  
  
But this was better than being digested, right? Maybe. That’d be an awful way to die and he couldn’t leave Blueberry like that. So yes, this was better, though not by much.  
  
Edge grunted and moaned above him, enjoying this way too much as he pressed down on Stretch’s front so he could thrust harshly down into him. Despite how little he wanted this, Edge’s cock still stimulated the sensitive walls of his magic, making him slicker and wetter with each thrust. Which at least made it feel better. And this new angle made it borderline pleasurable on top of painful with the way it pushed into him. His magic hugged tight around it now as if not wanting to let it go, instead of desperately wanting it gone, the way his coherent mind did.  
  
And as each thrust seemed to be more pleasurable and less painful than the previous one, the sounds coming out of Stretch’s mouth might not have all been entirely ones of pain. Which made it worse. And he couldn’t even beg for it to stop without risking angering Edge and possibly ending up digesting in his stomach after all.  
  
Pressure was building in his magic; he was going to climax soon. And based off the way Edge’s thrusts increased in tempo and need, he’d be coming soon too. Meaning this was at least almost over.  
  
When Stretch climaxed he let out a wordless half scream as he arched into Edge. A few more thrusts, helping him ride it out, and Edge slammed himself all the way in with a yip-like bark. Something hard expanded at the base of his cock, painfully stretching that part of Stretch’s magic. There was a hot gushing of liquid magic inside him as Edge moaned loudly.  
  
Stretch shuddered as Edge kept coming and coming, filling his pussy with an uncomfortable, disgusting warmth. Because of the knot it couldn’t leak out around Edge’s dick, leaving it to gather inside him. He’d read about animals and monsters that knotted when they mated. He hadn’t paid much attention though, so he had no idea how long it was going to last. Hopefully not too long, Stretch’s magic was already filled near to its limit with just Edge’s cock alone.  
  
He panted and shook as he pressed his face into the carpet beneath him, trying to hide his tears. It was almost done though and he wasn’t going to die. Tomorrow he and Blueberry would go home and then he’d never come back and he’d do his best to not think about this place or Edge ever again.  
  
He quivered, his magic straining uncomfortably as Edge’s magic kept pouring into him. The pressure built until it was painful and soon it felt like his magic might burst. He whimpered at the thought, but there was nothing he could do until Edge’s knot softened.  
  
Instead of popping though and potentially killing him, his magic expanded, snapping into an ecto-body and womb. The sudden release of pressure as cum flooded into his belly caused another climax to roll though him. He shuddered with despair and shame as his body relaxed once more. Thankfully at least he still had his hoodie on, hiding his ecto-body underneath it both from Edge and himself. The last thing he wanted to see right now was Edge’s magic pooling in his middle.  
  
Edge chuckled. “I’m that good, huh?” The smug satisfaction in his voice would’ve perhaps annoyed Stretch under different circumstances, but now it just brought a fresh round of tears to his eyes. “Of course I am, I’m the best.”  
  
It seemed to take hours upon hours before the knot finally softened and Edge stopped coming. It couldn’t have been that long though, could it have been? At most like ten minutes, right? Possibly more. He had no idea; it had been awful and disgusting in every way.  
  
Edge’s sigh of satisfaction turned into a yawn as he pulled out, allowing cum to ooze out of Stretch’s entrance. “That was nice,” he said before leaning over to lick Stretch’s face, lapping up his tears.  
  
Edge then yawned again as he flopped over onto his side, apparently too tired to even pull himself up onto the couch. Stretch tried to crawl away to curl up into a ball of misery in one of the corners, as far from Edge as he could get. But before he could move more than a centimeter, Edge’s arms wrapped around him and pulled him to his chest. His breath was hot on Stretch’s skull and ears as he nuzzled into him, already fast asleep.  
  
With a suppressed whimper, Stretch tried to escape his grasp. But his hold, though not tight enough to hurt, was still tight enough to make slipping out of it impossible, and forcing it risked waking Edge and that was the last thing Stretch wanted right now. So, with a groan, Stretch resigned himself to a night spent ‘sleeping’ like this.  
  
His pussy was sore from the pounding it had just taken and Edge’s cum oozed out of it, _disgusting_. He dispelled it before remembering the magic in his belly too. He flinched, expecting the worst, but only the cum in his pussy splattered on his pelvis; the rest seemed to vanish with his ecto-body. Odd, but better than dealing with being covered in Edge’s disgusting magic.  
  
Deciding not to question that small fortune, he reached down to grab onto the hem of his pants and with some difficulty shimmied them back up to cover his pelvis and the evidence of what Edge had done to him. Well, evidence of the rape, anyway. He was still covered in red magic from being inside Edge’s stomach for however long he’d been trapped in there.  
  
He’d almost be willing to kill for a shower at this point. He’d never felt more disgusting in his whole life, and he lived in a room that Blueberry often described as a pigsty. But it seemed like he wouldn’t get a chance to get clean until tomorrow. It would be the first thing he did when he and Blueberry got back home in their safe, sane universe. A scalding hot shower to burn away all the evidence of every way Edge had violated him tonight.  
  
***  
  
Blueberry woke up in the warm embrace of Red’s ectoplasm. The first time he’d fallen asleep in here, it had been alarming to try to move and feel the red magic pressing back on him from all directions, before he remembered where he was. But now he was used to it, it was comforting. He squirmed around to let Red know he was awake and ready to come out. The worst that could happen was that the fox slept through it and he was trapped in here long enough to become bored.  
  
But Red was awake. Suddenly the magic surrounding him disappeared, and Blueberry found himself lying across Red’s spine. He hurriedly pushed himself up. “Hi, Red! What time is it?”  
  
“Think it’s still early morning,” Red mumbled, though he didn’t sound as drowsy as Blue might have expected. “We can relax for a while.”  
  
“I feel so well-rested. I think I’ll go start on breakfast!” Blueberry was such a frequent visitor that they’d worked out ways for him to get around the too-large kitchen. “You can sleep in longer, though.” He might occasionally tease Red for sleeping all morning, but he certainly wouldn’t criticize him for going back to bed when they’d woken up so early. He stepped over Red’s spine and went to get a change of clothes, which he’d left here for just such an occasion. Red’s room was slowly being taken over by tidiness, since Blue spent so much time in it now.  
  
“Nah, I’ll come with.” Red sat up, rubbing his eye sockets.  
  
That was unusual, but Blue was happy to have his company. “Okay!”  
  
***  
  
“Papy! Did you sleep on the floor?”  
  
Stretch looked up at Edge, who was still holding him close, the two of them curled up on the carpet. He hadn’t slept on the floor, really—he hadn’t slept at all, he was pretty sure, although he might have some gaps in his memory—if he had dozed off, it was inside Edge’s stomach, which was not the floor. But he really didn’t want to tell Blue what had happened. What could he say that would worry his brother the least? “No. Sort of. Yes.”  
  
Blueberry took a closer look at them. “What have you two been up to?”  
  
Stretch looked away, trying to avoid the question. Edge blinked lazily awake and squeezed him tighter.  
  
“You let him eat you?” Blueberry was incredulous. Stretch didn’t want to believe it had happened either. But the traces of red magic, on his clothes, his bones, his fur, were clear proof. Stretch flinched guiltily. Blueberry lit up with a broad smile. “That’s great! I’m so glad you two are getting along!”  
  
Stretch tried to smile back but only grimaced. “So,” he said, hoping to sound casual, “ready to head back home?”  
  
“No, I was just gonna start on breakfast! You two can go back to sleep. Maybe move to the couch? Or Edge’s room!” Blueberry giggled.  
  
Stretch tried to extricate himself from Edge’s embrace, but the fox just growled contentedly and pulled him back down. Blueberry trotted off to the kitchen, humming to himself. Only now did Stretch notice that Red had followed him downstairs. “Sorry, Carrots,” he whispered, and followed after Blue. Stretch went slack, defeated. If Red were really sorry, why did he just leave him alone with Edge yet again?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are consequences from the previous chapter.

Stretch seemed lazier than usual, but it was hard to tell. Maybe it wasn’t that he was sleeping more—how could he sleep more than he already did?—but that he hadn’t told Blueberry any mind-numbingly bad puns since they’d gotten back from Red’s house.  
  
Blue was worried about him. He was definitely more despondent than usual. Currently he was lying on the couch, but not asleep. “Papy, time for tacos!” Blue called, but he didn’t respond, apparently lost in thought, his expression glum. Blue walked over and shook him playfully. Stretch startled and hurriedly pulled down the edge of his hoodie, as if he were afraid it would slip and reveal a glimpse of bone. “Papy? What’s wrong?”  
  
“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong.”  
  
“Papy,” Blue warned. Sometimes Stretch was a good liar, but this was not one of those times.  
  
“It’s nothing, really.”  
  
“What is it? Are you hiding something?” Perhaps Edge had been too rough with him—was he injured? Was that why he was sleeping so much? Was he in pain? “Show me.” Blueberry could hear the worry in his own voice.  
  
Stretch sat up with a long-suffering sigh. “I guess you’d find out sooner or later.” He hiked up the hem of his hoodie to reveal orange ecto-flesh.  
  
“What’s—” Blueberry started to ask, then saw the tiny souls floating inside. He counted two, but they were so small, it was hard to say. “Oh! Oh, wow, Papy—did you—you and Edge—?”  
  
Stretch nodded miserably. He must be having mood swings! Of course!  
  
“Wow, Papy, congratulations! You’re—moving pretty fast, aren’t you?” So far as Blue knew, he and Edge had just become a couple the other day. But maybe they’d talked about it for a while before that—they must have. Blue talked with Red all the time on the phone, so it wasn’t surprising if Stretch was in touch with Edge—at least, not compared to what had happened the other day. Given that, it would be more surprising if they hadn’t been!  
  
Stretch grunted noncommittally in response. Wasn’t he happy? He was probably just moody because of the hormones.  
  
“Well, you’re eating for two—no, three! So come have some tacos!” Blueberry tugged at his arm, and he allowed himself to be led to the table.  
  
***  
  
Blue usually called Red, rather than the other way around, since Blue kept busy but Red was generally free unless he was asleep. And now that they had fallen into a routine, the fox was pretty good at making sure he was awake to answer the phone at the time Blue usually called. It was after dinner, and today Stretch had retreated to his room.  
  
“Hey,” came Red’s voice when he picked up.  
  
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Blue demanded.  
  
For a moment, Blue thought they had been disconnected. “Tell you what?” Red said, trying to sound casual but clearly alarmed.  
  
“About Papy!”  
  
“Uh. What about him?”  
  
Red must have known. And now he was nervous that Blue would be angry he hadn’t told him! Blue decided he’d teased him long enough. “About his kits!”  
  
“K… kits?!”  
  
“Didn’t you know? He and Edge are having kits!”  
  
“Uh. No, that’s news to me.”  
  
“Edge didn’t tell you?”  
  
“No. Um. Blueberry, are you coming over tonight?”  
  
“I was planning to! Should I bring Papy? He might want to rest, but I’m sure Edge is worried about him.” Blueberry stopped to think. If Stretch needed him, maybe he should stay home tonight. “Or maybe you two could come here!”  
  
“No, don’t—don’t pressure him to come over here. And I don’t think you want my bro visiting your town of rabbits, still. Blue, can you do me a favor before you come over?”  
  
“Sure!”  
  
“Ask Carrots—ask ‘im whether or not he wants Edge to know about—about the kits.”  
  
“What? Of course he does! Wait, Edge doesn’t know? Are you sure he just didn’t tell you?” Blueberry knew Stretch hadn’t visited Edge since they’d mated, but he had assumed his brother had told the fox over the phone.  
  
“Yeah, I’m—Look, just ask him for me, will ya?”  
  
“Ask who what?” Blueberry heard Edge’s voice in the background.  
  
“Nothin’, Boss. I’ll see you soon, Blue. Call me when you’re headin’ over.” Red had to escort Blueberry from the lab into the house because of the danger of other foxes, so this was their standard routine.  
  
“Okay,” said Blue, at a loss. “Bye.” How could it be that Edge was the last one to find out about his own kits?  
  
After hanging up, Blueberry thought the situation over while cleaning up around the house. Something was odd about Stretch and Edge so suddenly deciding to have kits. Stretch had never mentioned any of this to Blue, and now he hadn’t told Edge that they’d succeeded. The latter he could write off as some side effect of the pregnancy, but the former he couldn’t quite explain. Stretch just wasn’t that impulsive.  
  
But he certainly wasn’t going to badger Stretch in his current state. He finished his chores and went upstairs to see if his brother was awake. He needed to ask Red’s question, and it wouldn’t hurt to ask if Stretch wanted to go see Edge in person, if he was feeling up to it.  
  
***  
  
“Papy, are you awake?”  
  
“No,” Stretch answered, because he wished he weren’t.  
  
Blueberry laughed, and it reminded Stretch that there were still some good things in the world. “Red asked something strange over the phone! He wanted to know whether you wanted Edge to know about the kits yet. I thought you’d already told him!” Blue’s tone was light with only a hint of scolding.  
  
“Ugh.” Edge was going to find out eventually, especially now that both their brothers knew, and if he didn’t tell him, it could only make him angry. “I guess you and Red can tell him. Save me the trouble.”  
  
“You don’t wanna come tell him yourself?”  
  
“Ugh, no.” Stretch didn’t really ever want to see that fox again.  
  
“But Papy…” Blue’s eye lights were wide and shiny. “This is such a special occasion. And I’m sure he’ll be worried about you.”  
  
“Hmph. Maybe. I’m still not going.”  
  
“Are you sure?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“Okay, Papy. I’ll be back later tonight, in case you need anything.”  
  
“Don’t hurry back on my account. I’m fine.”  
  
Blue looked skeptical, but he said, “Good night, Papy,” and left the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edge finds out.

“Hey.” Red greeted Blueberry at the portal, like always, but the fox seemed uneasy.  
  
“Hi, Red!” Blueberry tried to overpower whatever was worrying him with aggressive cheerfulness. “Let’s go tell Edge the good news!”  
  
“Uh, yeah. If … Are you sure Carrots is okay with it? He doesn’t wanna keep it a secret or nothin’?”  
  
“Why would he want that?” Blueberry reached for Red’s hand, so that he could teleport them.  
  
“I dunno, just … What if he ends up not having the kits?”  
  
“Don’t worry, Red! I’ll make sure he gets prenatal checkups. I’m sure everything will go fine!”  
  
Red didn’t seem satisfied, his habitual grin more of a grimace, his ears lowered, but he took Blueberry’s hand and teleported to the foxes’ living room.  
  
Edge was there waiting. “No Carrots?”  
  
“He decided to take it easy at home today, considering his condition.” Blueberry beamed at him.  
  
“What condition?”  
  
“He’s having kits!” Blueberry would have liked to shake Edge’s hand, but he’d have had to jump up and grab it. “Congratulations!”  
  
Edge’s eye sockets widened. “Kits!”  
  
Blueberry glanced over at Red, who was as inexplicably nervous as ever.  
  
“That’s excellent news,” Edge continued. “And all the more reason I must see him! Come, Sans.” He strode to the front door.  
  
“But Boss, I don’t think—”  
  
“I know, I know. I’m not going to eat any bunnies! I’m just going to see my mate, who’s carrying my kits! You can’t object to that.”  
  
“But I—”  
  
“If you won’t operate the machine, I’ll figure it out myself!”  
  
Alarmed, Red followed Edge out the door, and Blueberry hurried after, not wanting to be left behind.  
  
***  
  
Wrapped in a blanket on his mattress, Stretch had almost managed to put his situation far enough out of his mind to doze, when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs, someone too large to be Blueberry and too energetic to be Red. There was only one monster it could be, and he was the last monster Stretch wanted to see. He gathered his magic to teleport away, somewhere, but the tiny souls were draining his reserves, and it took a moment too long. Edge threw open the door and stalked over to him, no less intimidating for having to duck to fit in the room.  
  
“Show me,” the fox demanded.  
  
“Not gonna ask how I’m feeling?” Stretch muttered as he pushed the blanket down and, shuddering, lifted his hoodie.  
  
Edge knelt down to get a closer look. “Only two?”  
  
“Sorry for not being more fertile,” Stretch said sarcastically.  
  
Edge cupped a hand over the rabbit’s belly, then moved it to his ribs, then his skull. He brought his face close to Stretch’s and sniffed him, moving down his body to his pelvis. “You are doing fine,” he declared.  
  
No, he really wasn’t, but he didn’t dare contradict the fox. He caught sight of Red and Blueberry standing in the doorway. Red looked helpless, Blueberry confused.  
  
“If you are well, there is no reason for you not to come see me,” Edge said, straightening as much as space allowed. “Your brother comes twice a week. I will expect you to do the same.”  
  
“Boss—” Red objected weakly.  
  
“He can walk a few yards! And if he cannot, I will come check on him. I cannot allow anything to happen to my mate.” Edge reached out to run his hand across the bunny’s skull and down his hoodie. “Perhaps he should just come stay with us until the kits are born.”  
  
“No! No, please.” Stretch couldn’t hold it back.  
  
“We don’t wanna put any stress on him if we can help it, Boss,” said Red. “I think he’ll be more comfortable in a familiar environment.”  
  
“Don’t worry, Edge!” Blueberry chimed in. “I’ll take good care of him!”  
  
Edge scowled, but it might not have meant anything. He was always scowling. “Very well,” he relented. “Sans, go on and do your weird swallowing ritual. I will be here with Carrots until you’re ready to go home.”  
  
“Okay,” Red said, his voice hollow, and led Blueberry away.  
  
Stretch started trembling again as Edge lowered himself onto the mattress, but all he did was curl around the bunny and drape an arm over his ribs. Perhaps he noticed the trembling, because he pulled Stretch’s blanket back up, and then nuzzled the back of his skull.  
  
“If I did not have duties to attend to I would stay here to look after you,” he growled softly. Stretch was very glad he did have duties.  
  
***  
  
Red led Blueberry to the bunny’s own room, pushing the door open without asking permission, and took a seat on Blue’s bed, barely noticing when the bunny hopped up next to him. How could he have let this happen?  Blueberry was going to find out, and leave him, or Stretch would break up with Edge, and then Edge would eat him after all, or … There were so many possibilities, and none of them were pleasant. This was his fault. He should have told Stretch to stay home, he should have stopped Edge, he should have told Blueberry the truth of what had happened as soon as he woke up that morning, he…  
  
Blueberry placed a concerned hand on the fox’s arm, peering up at him with wide eye lights. “Red? What’s wrong?”  
  
“N-nothing, I—Nothing’s wrong,” said Red. He remembered slinking guiltily upstairs, leaving Stretch to his fate, leaning against the door as if he could stop the sounds from forcing their way in, terrified that Blueberry would wake up and hear.  
  
“Something’s definitely wrong.” Blueberry leaned against his arm to look more closely into his face.  
  
“No, it’s nothing. I’m just nervous about bein’ an uncle to those kits.” Red faked an easy grin. He had a lot of practice at that. Blueberry would find out what had really happened to Stretch, he was sure. If Stretch didn’t tell him, Edge would let something slip—he still didn’t seem to comprehend that he’d done anything wrong. Maybe Red could pretend he was just finding out at the same time.  
  
Blue laughed, but it was half-hearted. “Yeah, me too.” He pulled off his gloves.  
  
Red didn’t really feel like eating him, whether it was because he had so much on his mind or because Edge had imperiously told them to go do their ‘weird ritual.’ “Look, Blue, d’you think we could … just sit here for a bit?”  
  
“Oh. Of course!” Blue gave him a genuine smile and then cuddled up to him, as Red put his arm around the bunny. It helped, but his mind was still going in all the same circles. He needed a distraction. Or perhaps just to sleep until he died.  
  
“You’re still tense,” said Blue, after a while. “Here, lie down.”  
  
Red did as he was told. Blue’s bed was a little small, so he lay on his side and curled up his legs.  
  
“This always calms me down when you do it,” said Blue, leaning over his skull to stroke his ears. “Good foxy. Nice foxy.”  
  
Red chuckled softly and relaxed, focusing on Blue’s soothing words and his phalanges running across his fur.  
  
“Good foxies get treats,” Blue announced after a few minutes.  
  
“Is that so?” Red would have been content to doze off like this, but lying here with Blueberry in his belly would be nice, too. And if Blue was also feeling anxious, it was Red’s turn to comfort him; it was only fair. He’d have to sit up in order to gulp the bunny down, but to start with he just opened his jaws, letting Blueberry push his arms in. Perhaps being inside him would be enough to muffle out any noises Edge and Stretch made.  
  
***  
  
Edge’s body was uncomfortably solid pressed up against Stretch’s back. He felt trapped and didn’t even dare try to free himself, lest he find out that he couldn’t and end up tipping over the edge of fear and into panic. He was almost completely helpless against a predator as large and powerful as Edge under normal circumstances, and now his magic was crippled by having to provide for the soulings.  
  
And he was alone. Not that that made much of difference. Red, though willing to save him from being digested didn’t seem all that willing to save him from being raped. Yeah, protecting Blueberry from all this was important, _very_ important, but surely Red could’ve at least _tried_ harder to protect Stretch from Edge the other night, right? He could’ve done more to convince Edge _not_ to fuck Stretch or distracted him long enough for Stretch to get away. Or just anything at all instead of running away.  
  
“You can’t possibly still be cold,” Edge said, a note of complaint in his voice.  
  
Stretch was anything but cold. Between being wrapped in the blanket and being pressed so close to Edge he actually felt almost overheated. But he couldn’t stop trembling no matter how hard he tried. He was cuddled up with a predator who was also his rapist who had also tried to eat him—no, who _had_ eaten him and had tried to digest him. Fear was a pretty natural response here.  
  
“Nah, I uh…” Stretch searched desperately through his mind for an ice or cold-related pun but came up with nothing. He was too distracted by everything wrong with his current situation to be funny.  
  
Edge let out a noisy breath as he pulled Stretch even closer to himself, nuzzling into him. “I guess I’ll just have to warm you up then.”  
  
If it was possible for Stretch to tremble any harder than he’d already been doing he would’ve done so. “Uh… ya don’t gotta do that, I’m perfectly fine.” He forced a grin, trying to not think about what Edge might have in mind to warm him up. There was a good chance it wouldn’t be anything Stretch would want to do.  
  
“Nonsense, you’re my mate and you’re carrying my kits, so I’m taking care of you.” He nuzzled into Stretch even more, rolling him over on his back and moving the blanket a bit so he could reach a hand down to slip beneath Stretch’s pants and fondle at his pelvis.  
  
Stretch couldn’t hold back a small squeak of fear as he instinctively tried to jerk away but he was still pressed too close to Edge. If Edge noticed, which there was no way he hadn’t, he either didn’t care or misinterpreted Stretch’s reaction as something other than fear. His facial expression gave no clue as to which it might be, not that it made much of a difference anyway.  
  
“I, uh… I’m not in the mood for this.” Stretch again forced a grin; angering Edge couldn’t be a good thing.  
  
Edge at least paused to give Stretch a disapproving look. “Why not?”  
  
“Uh… I don’t feel good, ya know, morning sickness and stuff.” It was true, Stretch felt a little queasy but it had more to do with the situation than morning sickness, which hadn’t even fully set in yet, but Edge didn’t know that.  
  
“Do you feel like you’re going to throw up?”  
  
If Stretch knew how to make himself throw up on command he’d consider saying ‘yes’ and even going through with the act as long as it got him out of this. But unlike fully fleshed monsters he couldn’t stick his hand into the back of his throat to make himself vomit. So… “No, not right now but, uh… I might soon.” The possibility would maybe get Edge to leave him alone, right? No one wanted to risk being vomited on.  
  
Edge thought for a few seconds more before pushing himself up and moving the blanket so he could flip Stretch over to lie on his front. “This should make you feel better then,” he said as he lifted Stretch’s hips and pulled his pants down to expose his pelvis. “I have heard from numerous sources that pregnant monsters have a higher sex drive and are more sensitive and therefore sex feels better for them.”  
  
If Stretch tried to be more forceful and say ‘no’ would Edge listen and back off? Probably not. He might get mad and decide that if Stretch wasn’t his mate, he was food, like he’d thought originally. But he wouldn’t hurt Stretch now that Stretch was carrying his kits, right? So, he’d probably force it instead and Stretch wasn’t strong enough to fight him off. Calling for help wasn’t an option either because Blueberry would hear and then he’d _know_. Also, even if Red were the only one nearby, he wouldn’t help anyway, so it’d be pointless.  
  
So, with a groan, Stretch gave up. He was good at that, and resisting would get him nowhere except hurt even worse, possibly dead, and/or having Blueberry find out. He pressed his face into the blanket beneath him. Why’d it have to be on his bed? Was it too late to ask to move to the floor? Probably. He groaned once more as Edge went back to fondling at his pelvis, his intention clear even if he wasn’t good at this.  
  
Wanting this to be over with fast, Stretch forced his magic to take shape in his pelvis. “Please be uh… gentle,” he said. If Edge were gentle it at least wouldn’t be as bad as last time, right?  
  
“Of course, I am always gentle. I’ll take good care of you.” Edge grabbed the hood of Stretch’s hoodie and used it to pull him up so he’d be on his hands and knees. But, as he’d said, it was gentle, even with the promise of force behind it.  
  
Trembling, Stretch almost sank back down as Edge positioned himself behind him. He _couldn’t_ go through this again. But what could he possibly do to stop it?  
  
It apparently didn’t take long for Edge to get ready for sex as the tip of his erect cock soon brushed against Stretch’s entrance as he lined himself up. Stretch grabbed the pillow and bit down on it just in time to muffle his cry as Edge thrust into him.  
  
He felt even bigger than he had before, if that were even possible, filling Stretch’s magic near to its limit. Stretch again wasn’t at all prepared, so it hurt, making his magic burn around it. But Edge didn’t care and started moving right away.  
  
It was gentle though, sort of, more so than last time anyway. Which honestly didn’t help much. Each thrust still rocked Stretch’s body forward and cause him to let out a small yelp, though the pillow in his mouth muffled it significantly. So, at least Blueberry wouldn’t hear him. But he might hear Edge as he was letting out the occasional noise of pleasure or effort. Or he might hear the bed as it creaked and rocked underneath Stretch and Edge. Hopefully, Red would at least keep Blueberry distracted.  
  
Stretch bit even harder into the pillow as Edge pushed his front down to pound downward into him. His magic was once more reacting to the stimulation as it grew accustomed to size of Edge’s cock. And soon it had Stretch gasping and moaning shamefully once more as tears leaked down his face. Clenching his eyes shut, he forced himself to relax and roll with Edge’s thrusts, hoping to end this quicker. It seemed to work too as, judging by Edge’s increase in pace, he was enjoying it more, possibly getting close to climax. But when he finished he’d knot and…  
  
Stretch released the pillow from his mouth. “Don’t… finish… in me… please,” he panted, holding back pained sounds and moans of pleasure mixed with misery.  
  
Edge’s pace faltered but only for a second or two. “Why not?”  
  
“The knot.” It had been too much last time and now with the soulings in his womb there’d be nowhere for Edge’s excessive amounts of magic to go. “Please,” he begged with a moan as Edge’s cock slid into him, pressing against the sensitive walls of his magic. Maybe he was a little more sensitive than usual. “It’s too much… don’t wanna hurt the… kits, right?”  
  
“I’ll be careful.”  
  
A fresh wave of tears forming in his eyes, Stretch grabbed the pillow to put in his mouth and muffle himself once more. As much as he didn’t want to, he was going to climax soon; his body needed it. He held it off as long as he could, but that only made it more intense when it did hit. Intense waves of gross-feeling, unwanted pleasure rolled through as his body arched, his pussy clamped tightly around Edge’s cock, and he screamed around the pillow in his mouth.  
  
Edge’s answering chuckle was filled with sickening self-satisfaction. A few more thrusts and he slammed his hips into Stretch, burying his dick all the way inside as the knot expanded at the base of it again. It twitched slightly inside Stretch as Edge came, filling Stretch’s magic with gross warmth.  
  
“Why?” Stretch whimpered as he tried unsuccessfully to pull himself forward and off the knot.  
  
“You’ll be fine,” Edge said with a slight hint of annoyance. Despite that, he pet his hand down Stretch’s skull and ears. It kind of felt good—having his ears stroked always did—but that didn’t make him want it any more. “It’ll soften in a few minutes.”  
  
Stretch whimpered and let himself go limp, giving up once more. If giving up were an Olympic sport, he’d win a gold medal in it. He should try to fix that, shouldn’t he? It was too much work though.  
  
The growing warmth in his magic was _disgusting_. If this was anything like last time, his pussy wouldn’t be able to stretch enough to hold all of it, but this time there wouldn’t be anywhere for it to go. What would happen then? Well, they were about to find out.  
  
Edge kept silently stroking his ears every so often as his magic continued to pump into Stretch. It soon started to hurt and strain his magic, but before it got too bad the knot suddenly softened, allowing cum to ooze out of him as Edge pulled out. He must have some kind of control over how long it lasted, for what little mercy that was.  
  
“There, see, you’re okay,” Edge said as he dispelled his cock and pulled his pants back up. “And so are the kits.”  
  
“C-can I go get cleaned up please?” Stretch _needed_ to get away from Edge and take a shower long enough to last until Red and Edge left.  
  
“I’ll handle it. Stay there.”  
  
Stretch didn’t dare disobey as Edge left. He dispelled his magic, shuddering as Edge’s cum land on his pelvis. How could he have ended up like this? Raped in his own bed and pregnant with a fox’s kits. Few things seemed like they’d be worse.  
  
Edge returned with a wet paper towel that he used to clean Stretch’s pelvis before tossing it in the trash. Then, contrary to Stretch’s hopes, he lay on the bed once more and pulled Stretch to his chest again.  
  
Stretch sighed, fighting tears as he finished pulling up his pants. He still felt gross and in desperate need of a hot shower, but that would have to wait. “So, uh… when ya leaving?” Soon, hopefully.  
  
“As soon as my brother and your brother are done with their weird thing.” Edge wrapped the blanket around Stretch again and snuggled into him. “Like I said earlier, I expect you to come visit _at least_ twice a week, though more often would be better, or I’ll have to come here to visit you.”  
  
Stretch held back a whimper. “Twice a week then, that’s… fine.” It was the opposite of fine but it was better than him coming over like this and raping Stretch in his own bed. So, with silent tears streaming down his face Stretch gave up again and resigned himself to his fate. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angst. Silliness. Vore. Bad times.

“Hi, Red! Hi, Edge!” Blueberry greeted the foxes as they stepped through the portal.  
  
Stretch had hoped that Edge would be waiting for him in the house rather than in the lab, but it seemed he was to be denied even that brief respite. He shrank back, resisting the urge to bolt through the portal before it closed.  
  
“Hi, bunnies.” Red returned the greeting with an easy grin. Edge only grunted, as if he were irritated he’d had to come all the way here to meet them. “Come on, I’ll shortcut you into the house.” Red held out both hands.  
  
Stretch reached hesitantly for one, looking up at Edge. The taller fox nodded curtly. The next moment he found himself, along with Red and Blueberry, in the foxes’ living room.  
  
“Isn’t it nice that Edge came to meet you in the lab, even though he’s just gonna have to walk back here!” Blueberry grinned at him.  
  
“Seems like a waste of effort for him,” Stretch grumbled. But at least Edge hadn’t insisted on carrying him into the house or anything like that. He’d been granted these few moments before he had to deal with the fox’s presence again.  
  
“Yeah,” Red agreed. “It’s safer for you two to teleport, so he didn’t really need to. He just thought it was proper, I guess.”  
  
Stretch shuddered as the door opened and Edge came in, locked it behind him, and made a beeline for his ‘mate.’ The fox picked him up and placed him on the couch, then pulled up his shirt to check on the soulings floating inside his ecto-belly. He growled in approval. “They’re growing.”  
  
“We’ll be upstairs,” said Blueberry, dragging Red toward the stairs. “If you need anything, just knock! And wait a minute after you knock!”  
  
Stretch hugged himself and nodded. Here with Edge was the last place he wanted to be, but at least Blueberry was happy.  
  
***  
  
Blueberry led Red into his room and closed the door behind them, deflating.  
  
“What’s wrong?” Red asked, alarmed to see Blue so uncharacteristically sullen.  
  
“I’m worried about Papy. He’s trying to hide it from me, but he’s just … really sad. Maybe it’s just hormones, but …” The bunny sighed, leaning against the door. “I know it’ll all be worth it for the kits. But I wish he didn’t have to feel bad.”  
  
Red’s soul clenched with guilt.  
  
“Do you know what’s wrong with him?” Blueberry asked.  
  
Red froze, his shock at being asked directly hidden behind his habitual easy smile. He should tell Blueberry what happened. It was the right thing to do. He knew the value the bunny placed on honesty, and Blue would want to know. Knowing was the first step in helping, he had said at some point or other. This was the perfect opportunity to tell him.  
  
He opened his mouth to say it, then stopped. How could he phrase this delicately? He had to soften the blow of the truth. He really didn’t want to see Blueberry devastated by the knowledge of what had happened to his brother. How would the little bunny react? Would he break up with Red right then and there? Red imagined seeing the betrayal in Blue’s eyes as he realized Red had kept it secret from him, that Red hadn’t stopped any of this from happening to Stretch, and had let Stretch deal with it alone when he could have had Blue’s support. Would Blue yell at him and storm out, or would he break down crying? Red found he couldn’t bring himself to say anything that would trigger all that.  
  
Red opened his mouth again to force himself to blurt it out, but the words still wouldn’t come. He tried to tell himself he was concerned for Blueberry, and how much it would upset him to know the truth. He tried to tell himself he was just following Stretch’s wishes—clearly he didn’t want his brother to know, or he would have told him himself. But he knew he was just putting off Blueberry being angry with him. And, some selfish part of his mind said, since Stretch must hate him already, and Blueberry would hate him when he found out, Edge was the only skeleton he would have left in the end, and that could change if he messed up Edge’s plans for Stretch by stirring things up. His ears folded guiltily against his skull.  
  
“Is it a fox thing?” Blueberry continued.  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“Papy is a bunny, but the kits are half fox, so maybe they have some kind of effect on him that’s unique to foxes? Or at least different from bunnies.”  
  
“Uh. Yeah, maybe, I don’t really know.”  
  
Blueberry sighed deeply, then looked up at him with his usual bright smile. “Well, let’s not worry about that right now. Edge is taking care of him tonight so I’m sure he’ll be fine.”  
  
“Yeah,” Red agreed, a chill of self-loathing running up his spine.  
  
“I’ve got something I want to try today.” Blue’s grin was genuine now.  
  
“What is it?” Red asked with some trepidation.  
  
“Role play! You be a fox and I’ll be a bunny.” Blueberry was positively giddy with excitement.  
  
“Um. Blue, we already are those things.”  
  
“I know, I know! I mean you be the fox _hunting down_ the helpless bunny, and I’ll be, like, scared and running away!” Blueberry was hopping in place a little as he explained it.  
  
“Uh.” Red tried to wrap his mind around the idea. He’d always avoided thinking of Blueberry as prey to be hunted, or as food, even if he wasn’t above making puns about it on occasion; he didn’t want to scare the bunny, but more importantly, if he ever slipped up and actually thought of him as food, that could influence his magic to treat him as such, and it wouldn’t be safe for him. “Are you sure?”  
  
“Yeah!”  
  
Blue was so enthusiastic, Red didn’t want to disappoint him. He couldn’t handle that little bit of guilt on top of what he already felt. He could do this, so long as he didn’t get carried away in the role, and dropped it as soon as Blue was swallowed. “Okay,” he relented. Blue shivered with delight, but didn’t otherwise respond. “How—how does this work?”  
  
“Oh! Well, I guess I’ll just start running and you chase me and catch me.” Blue blushed cyan. “And I’ll, like, struggle and try to escape. But you’ll eat me anyway.”  
  
“Okay,” Red agreed, thanking the stars that Blue had more HP to work with than he did. If he was a little too rough with him, at least Blue wouldn’t dust. Even so, the last thing he wanted was to hurt the bunny. “You gotta tell me if I’m bein’ too rough with ya, okay?”  
  
“Oh. I’ll be in character so I’ll be begging you to stop anyway. You have to ignore it,” Blue explained cheerfully. Red must have looked dismayed. “Oh, right! I have to pick a safe word. It’s a code word, so you’ll know if I REALLY want you to stop.”  
  
“Oh. Okay, what’s the safe word?”  
  
“Um … I meant to think of a good one before I told you about this, but I haven’t. So how about … ‘rolodex’?”  
  
“What? Why?”  
  
“No reason! It’s just a random word! Can you remember it?”  
  
“Sure.” Red’s consternation was increasing.  
  
“Okay, let’s start!” Blueberry scampered past Red into the middle of the room.  
  
Chasing him on foot seemed like a lot of work, so Red waited for him to stop and look back, then teleported behind him. Blue was so startled that he sidestepped into a stack of books—Red’s room was a lot cleaner since Blue had started spending so much time in it, but chaos still encroached between visits—and knocked them across the floor.  
  
“I wasn’t expecting you to teleport!” Blue protested, picking up one of the books to re-stack it.  
  
“Don’t stop to clean up when you’re supposed to be running for your life.” Red gave the bunny a predatory grin, and then made a grab for him.  
  
Blue narrowly dodged his hand and ran across the room. Red strolled after him at a leisurely pace, trying to block his escape and corner him against the wall, but Blue made a run for it and slipped past him. Red felt a bit silly, especially since he was, so far, failing to catch the bunny; but Blueberry was clearly enjoying himself, so he was glad to play along.  
  
Blue squeezed himself behind the dresser. Red made an attempt to reach into the gap, but there was no way he would get hold of the bunny without a considerable amount of effort. “Uh. I think you’ve escaped.”  
  
“Oh. That won’t do.”  
  
Blue obligingly squeezed himself back out, and Red snatched him up before he could run. “Got you!”  
  
“Ahh! That wasn’t fair!”  
  
“Foxes don’t have to be fair.” Red lifted the squirming bunny and gave him a good lick.  
  
“Noooo!” said Blue, giggling.  
  
“You don’t seem very upset that I’m gonna eat you.”  
  
“No, no! Please don’t, please spare me!”  
  
“Nah.” Red licked him again, pushing the bunny’s skull between his jaws, but then took him out and placed him on the floor so that he could hold him down with one hand and pull his gloves and boots off with the other. Blueberry generally didn’t wear them when he got eaten, whether it was because they were harder to clean or he liked to feel Red’s ectoplasm on his phalanges. “You know, it’s a lot of work chasing you down, but it’s worth it. I love fast food.”  
  
“Ugh, Red, that’s terrible!” Blueberry struggled in his grasp.  
  
“Red? Who’s Red?” Red was starting to enjoy this now that they’d gotten to the part where he got to swallow Blue. But the pleasure itself reminded him how much he didn’t deserve this—he’d failed to tell Blue the truth, he’d let him down, and let his brother down, which was indirectly letting Blue down again.  
  
“Come on, Red, don’t stop now!” Blueberry stopped squirming for a moment to encourage him.  
  
“I don’t want to rabbit in, but I’ve got you beet. Lettuce see if you can escape now!”  
  
Blue shrieked with frustration, cut off with a gasp as Red lifted him again.  
  
“Fur-give me if my vegetable puns are corny.”  
  
“Stop! No p—” Blue’s protests were muffled by Red’s tongue as he pushed the bunny’s skull deep into his mouth.  
  
Blueberry squirmed and struggled as Red pushed him deeper, his skull intruding into Red’s throat. It occurred to the fox that Blue wouldn’t be able to say his safe word at this point even if he wanted to, but he wasn’t too worried—this wasn’t anything they hadn’t done a dozen times already. Blue’s arms felt around for anything he could grab to pull himself back out, but even when he grasped Red’s fingers, it didn’t do him much good. Red swallowed, and the bunny’s arms were pinned to his side as he was pulled further in. Red let go with his hands, cupping them under the bunny’s legs to support him until his center of gravity was firmly in Red’s mouth. Blue kicked, but when he felt his feet hit Red’s hands, he toned it down. Reassured, Red gulped him further down, until his tongue was able to play over the exposed bone of his feet and ankles. Another swallow, and all that was left was to wait until Blue slid all the way down into his stomach.  
  
When Blue had settled, Red pulled up his shirt to check on him. The familiar sight of the bunny grinning back at him through the translucent red flesh assured him Blue was fine, and he leaned back against the wall, relaxing. He wasn’t sure if their foray into role playing had been all that Blue had imagined, but they’d both had fun in the end, and that was what mattered, right? He would much rather worry about that than think about Stretch. A pang of guilt shot through him as he wondered what might be happening to the other bunny at that very moment.  
  
***  
  
The sound of the door to Red’s room upstairs clicking shut had a sense of finality to it that sent a shiver through Stretch’s soul. He was down here all alone, completely at Edge’s mercy, which he’d proven to not have much of so far.  
  
“So, uh… let’s watch some TV or something, huh?” Stretch looked around for the remote and spotted it on top the TV. But the thought of getting up to go get it wasn’t appealing in the least. Standing at all didn’t seem possible with the way Edge’s eyes seemed to pin him to the couch like a butterfly in a display case.  
  
“I doubt there is anything even remotely worthwhile on TV,” Edge said, dismissive of the way Stretch was huddling into himself. It was obvious what was going to end up happening, the same thing that always happened when Stretch was left alone with Edge. There was no way to avoid it either. “Instead we will…”  
  
“C-can we do something else today?” Stretch interrupted, cringing when he realized that Edge might get angry about being cut off.  
  
But thankfully, Edge only looked mildly annoyed. “Like what?”  
  
“Uh…” There was no way Stretch could get out of having to do some kind of sexual activity with him. As far as Edge was concerned, they were mates and mates did that kind of stuff with each other, so they would too, regardless of how Stretch might feel about it. “…Oral?” That wouldn’t be too bad, would it? He could lie there and take that much easier than he could getting fucked again. There’d be no pain and it’d be ever so slightly less invasive and horrible.  
  
“Very well,” Edge said. “I have read that it’s not good to do the same thing every time anyway because it can become boring and less pleasurable.” He picked Stretch up again to lay him on his back, leaning back into corner made by the back of the couch and armrest. He wasted no time undoing Stretch’s pants and pulling them all the way off this time, his shoes too, leaving his entire lower half bare.  
  
Stretch whimpered as he hugged his hoodie to himself as much as he could. He was more exposed than any time before, giving him an increased sense of vulnerability. At least he still had his hoodie and wasn’t completely naked.  
  
Edge slid down to crouch on the floor, positioned so that his head would be between Stretch’s spread legs. He was still scary though and Stretch would rather be anywhere else or at least with anyone else. But he was complying with Stretch’s suggestion, would he do the same if Stretch tried to say ‘no’?  
  
“Uh…  maybe don’t… do this?” Stretch said. “I… don’t know if I really want to right now.”  
  
Edge gave him an annoyed look. “Nonsense, you’re my mate. This is what mated couples do. Now summon your magic; sex helped with your morning sickness last time and should do so this time too.”  
  
Morning sickness wasn’t the problem but saying that would only anger him so… Stretch focused and summoned his magic. He considered summoning a cock but… that would be letting Edge ruin that for him too. And his pregnancy pushed his body towards summoning a pussy anyway.  
  
As soon as it formed Edge wasted no time running his tongue against it, warm and smooth, it felt good. And Stretch was definitely more sensitive than before as that alone forced a moan out of him.  
  
“See?” Edge said. His tone had an ‘I told you so’ vibe to it that would’ve made Stretch want to slap him if it wasn’t for their vast differences in power and strength and how fucked up the situation was. He bent his head back down to pleasure Stretch with his mouth more.  
  
Stretch closed his eyes and leaned his head back. It felt good, no pain or discomfort, and if he tried he could maybe pretend it was someone other than Edge. Someone he might actually want to sleep with, like… Considering his recent sexual experiences that was actually no one; he’d rather not have sex at all. But what he wanted didn’t matter.  
  
He moaned softly, pushing those thoughts aside as Edge’s tongue delved into him. At least he seemed to know what he was doing. Where’d he learned was anyone’s guess – probably a book or the internet; he was always talking about things he’d learned while reading – but it didn’t matter. It still made Stretch feel gross even if it was preferable.  
  
There was probably a joke that could be made here about Edge eating him out. But even if Stretch were in the correct mindset to find it, he wouldn’t want to make it. The time Edge had eaten him was not something he wished to ever think of again, even to make bad jokes about it, especially in this current unwanted situation.  
  
Because of the extra sensitivity in his magic it wasn’t long before Stretch started feeling close to orgasm. Having no desire whatsoever to prolong this, he didn’t fight it. When it hit, he bit back on a moan; being noisy seemed liked he’d be saying he enjoyed this when the opposite was true.  
  
Edge straightened, looking smug. “There you go. Now it’s your turn.”  
  
Reaching for his pants, Stretch froze. _Of course,_ Edge would want reciprocation, why wouldn’t he? How could Stretch not have realized that sooner? Saying ‘no’ wasn’t an option—it never was and never would be—so with a suppressed groan Stretch dispelled his pussy and grabbed his pants to pull them back on, purposefully taking his time to delay as long as possible. “Sure, all right.” His voice was lifeless and flat.  
  
Once he had his pants back on he turned to face Edge again. He’d already adjusted his pants to free his dick, stroking it a few times to get it erect. Stretch had never gotten a good look at it before due to their positions the previous times Edge had fucked him. It looked bigger than anything he ever would’ve thought he could take without his magic splitting. And now he’d have to put it in his mouth. But after that this would be over, right? How long did Blueberry normally visit with Red for? Stretch couldn’t remember. He tended to fall asleep before Blue got back.  
  
With an impatient look on his face, Edge opened his mouth to say something, but Stretch quickly cut him off. “Yeah uh… on it,” he said with a false grin as he scooched over to sit directly in front of Edge. This was better than getting fucked, wasn’t it? Probably.  
  
Before Edge could get anymore annoyed, Stretch summoned his tongue, throat, and everything else. He opened his mouth to place over the head of Edge’s dick but couldn’t quite get himself to fully commit, leaving him frozen there with his mouth hanging open like a moron.  
  
Edge wasn’t having it though, as he placed a hand on the back of Stretch’s head and thrust into his mouth. It wasn’t a particularly harsh thrust but it still had Stretch suddenly reeling to pull his mouth off. It was too big and his throat burned at the intrusion as it pressed into it.  
  
“Stop!”  
  
Stretch froze, blinking through tears and trembling. He shifted his eyes up to see Edge’s disapproving gaze. Struggling wasn’t an option here.  
  
“Much better. Now begin,” Edge said as he released the pressure on Stretch’s skull.  
  
Stretch gripped onto Edge’s legs to hold himself steady as he pulled his head back, letting his tongue drag against the underside of Edge’s cock. It took all his willpower not to pull off it completely. As he started bobbing his head back onto it he couldn’t force himself to take it all in again. In fear of Edge’s anger, he did his best though, which wasn’t very good; he’d never given anyone a blow job before and now probably would never want to again.  
  
Edge quickly grew impatient with his sloppy, slow movements and thrust all the way in again, causing Stretch to yelp around his dick. He didn’t care and ignored Stretch’s resistance completely as he kept going. Whimpering with tears leaking down his face, Stretch went limp and let him have his way. He tried to relax his body and throat as much as possible. It didn’t really help.  
  
“There we go,” Edge said with a pleased sigh. At least he wasn’t being as rough as he’d been when fucking Stretch’s pussy. Not that he was being gentle or anything resembling it.  
  
Stretch closed his eyes, forcing more tears out of them. With any luck Blueberry wouldn’t come down in the middle of this. Red had to know something like this was happening, so he’d keep Blueberry occupied long enough for it to be over… hopefully.  
  
Edge got bit rougher over time, forcing his dick to the back of Stretch’s abused throat over and over. It hurt and his jaw ached from how wide he was forced to have it open. What would happen if he bit down? Horrible, awful, painful stuff. It was best not to even think about trying.  
  
Panting a little, Edge sped up some; he was close to finishing. Would he do it in Stretch’s mouth? Surely not, right? The knot would be way too much. Stretch didn’t have a say in it though, as a short while later Edge thrust all the way in with a loud moan. The base of his cock expanded followed instantly by a gush of hot cum in Stretch’s throat.  
  
Stretch jerked back, pushing against Edge, desperate to get off his cock. It didn’t work.  
  
“Swallow,” Edge said, his hand firm on the back of Stretch’s skull, preventing him from even trying to pull away. Stretch had no choice but to obey, going limp as a fresh wave of tears formed in his eyes.  
  
Like both times before Edge kept coming so Stretch was forced to keep swallowing. It went on and on and on before _finally_ the knot softened and Edge pulled back, his dick coated in orange saliva.  
  
Shuddering, Stretch wiped the drool from mouth. He could still taste Edge’s magic; it hung around in his mouth like the aftertaste of vomit. “W-we done?” he asked as he wiped at his tears next. The last thing he needed was for Blueberry to come down and see his tear-streaked face. He’d assume it was just hormones and mood swings, though; he always did whenever he saw Stretch sad, which as of lately was quite often. But it’d still be better if he didn’t see it.  
  
“Yes.” Edge had dispelled his magic and was fixing his pants. “For now.”  
  
Stretch almost whimpered at the ‘for now’. “So, we’re uh… gonna just hang out and watch TV or something now, right?”  
  
Edge sighed as he got the remote. “I suppose.” He sat on the couch next to Stretch and wrapped his arms around him to pull him up on his lap. “But we’re also cuddling.”  
  
“We, uh, don’t gotta cuddle.” Stretch pushed gently against Edge’s arms, holding him to his chest, in a vain, weak attempt to escape them.  
  
“You’re shivering though, so I’m keeping you warm.” Did Stretch’s trembling really look that much like shivering to him? Surely, he had to know the difference, right? He just didn’t care, just like with everything else about their ‘relationship’.  
  
Stretch tilted his head back to look towards the stairs. When would Blueberry come back down so they could go home so he could take a shower and then nap for as long as possible to forget all about his horrid situation? It had to be soon, right? At least before Edge decided to he wanted to use Stretch again. Hopefully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In a way, both bunnies got eaten but only Blue enjoyed it :3  
> \- wolfbunny


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red initiates conversations

“Hey, Boss. Can we talk?”  
  
“I’m busy, Sans. What do you want to talk about?”  
  
“It’s Carrots.”  
  
Edge stopped adjusting his scarf to look its most menacing while he was out on patrol and gave Red his full attention. “What about him?”  
  
“He’s—You’ve noticed, right? He’s really unhappy.”  
  
“What does he have to be unhappy about?” Edge crossed his arms impatiently.  
  
“He, uh … You … Remember when I … ?”  
  
“Out with it!”  
  
Red flinched. “He doesn’t like being mated to you.”  
  
“What? Don’t be ridiculous.”  
  
“But Boss, haven’t you noticed he’s always crying, and … cringing away from you?”  
  
“Everyone cringes away from me, because I’m so intimidating! And as for crying … that’s just how bunnies are! Doesn’t Blue cry after sex, or when you swallow him?”  
  
“No, he doesn’t!”  
  
“Ah, well, maybe it’s only when they’re pregnant. He’ll calm down after the kits are born.”  
  
“Uh … maybe.” It occurred to Red that Edge might stop bothering Stretch so much if Stretch was busy taking care of the kits. He couldn’t imagine Edge helping out much with infant care. If only Edge would go ahead and stop, or even reduce, his torment of the bunny. “But, do you think you could, kinda, leave him be? You don’t have to, uh, consummate the relationship anymore or anything, so … what if when they visit we all just sit and watch a movie or somethin’?” Red felt a pang of guilt for leaving Stretch alone with Edge before, repeatedly, and he wasn’t sure what he’d tell Blueberry when they couldn’t get any alone time on his visits. Perhaps he’d go visit Blue, or maybe Edge would think it was unfair if he didn’t get to come see Stretch as well, making it too great a risk. But the difficulties would be worth it if—  
  
“Don’t be silly. He needs attention. Yesterday he specifically asked for sex.”  
  
Red’s eye sockets widened. Edge wouldn’t outright lie, but he had a feeling that he wasn’t getting the whole story.  
  
“Besides, he’s always cold and tense, and it helps him warm up and relax.”  
  
“He’s cold?”  
  
“Yes, haven’t you noticed he’s always shivering?”  
  
“Boss, I don’t think he’s cold.”  
  
Edge glared at him expectantly.  
  
“I think he’s scared of you.”  
  
Edge scoffed. “It’s just as well that my bunny is the one that needs so much attention and care. You’d probably be too lazy to do all of this for Blueberry.”  
  
Red bristled, biting back a growl. “Boss, just ask him. Ask him what he wants before you do anything to him, even just cuddling.”  
  
Edge rolled his eye lights. “Why would he want to be my mate if he didn’t even want to cuddle with me?”  
  
Red flinched. “I—He never told you he wanted to, did he? I’m—I’m the one that said that.”  
  
Edge stepped closer and leaned over him menacingly. It was terrifying—it must be the perfectly arranged scarf. “Are you telling me you lied about this?”  
  
“No, no!” Red answered almost as a reflex, shrinking away and holding up his arms to protect his skull. “No, I—but Boss, what if I was just, y’know, mistaken?”  
  
“Sans, surely even you must realize the importance and gravity of the choice of one’s mate,” Edge said icily, but he stood up straight again.  
  
“Y-yeah, Boss, I do.”  
  
“Do you? You’re the one who chose a rabbit as a mate.”  
  
Red bit back a snarl, rebelling at having his well-considered choice diminished in comparison to Edge’s spur-of-the-moment, one-sided bonding. “Just—just ask him. Please.”  
  
Edge scoffed again and turned to leave the house. Red frowned, not at all confident that the conversation had changed anything.  
  
***  
  
Surely he could wait and see if things miraculously improved on their own, Red told himself as he flipped his phone open and closed it again, over and over. He didn’t need to tell Blue, at least not yet. He had to give himself credit for trying to talk to Edge, and maybe it would even work. A little bit. Maybe. He stuffed the phone in his pocket.  
  
He would tell Blueberry later, if and when it was apparent that Stretch’s situation with Edge hadn’t improved. He’d even make sure to ask Stretch how things were going, in case it wasn’t obvious when he wasn’t there to witness the pair’s one-on-one interactions. That way Stretch would only have to go through it one more time before they could do something about it.  
  
Red sighed and pulled the phone out again. He couldn’t condemn Stretch to that, even one more time. He pulled up Blueberry in his contact list and pressed the button to call. Not that he had any idea what they could really do to help Stretch, even after Blueberry found out. He was probably destroying the bunny’s peace of mind, and their relationship, for no real benefit.  
  
“Red, hi!” came Blue’s voice, and it was too late to back out. “You don’t usually call so early! What’s up?”  
  
“Hi, Blue.” Red’s voice was flat and distant. “We, uh, we need to talk.”  
  
“Right now?”  
  
“Y-yeah, if possible.” There was no point putting it off any further. Red would just stew with worry the whole time. “I’ll—I’ll come over, now, if you’re free?” He thought he would prefer Blue to come here, so that when the bunny inevitably broke up with him, Red wouldn’t have to shamefully retreat from the bunnies’ home. But that would mean Blue making his way to the portal while distraught; it was safer just to meet at Blue’s place.  
  
“Okay, sure,” Blue said, warming to the idea. “It sounds important, so I can make the time!”  
  
***  
  
Blueberry couldn’t stand still even the few seconds it would take Red to get through the portal and teleport to his living room, so he anxiously dusted surfaces that really didn’t need it. He was so distracted that he jumped when the fox appeared in the room with him.  
  
“Hi, Red!” He recovered quickly, setting down the duster. “What did you want to talk about?”  
  
Red looked as downcast as he’d sounded on the phone. “It’s Carrots.”  
  
“Papy?”  
  
“Yeah.” Red glanced apprehensively up the stairs. “Is he here?”  
  
“Yeah, he’s napping in his room. Should I go get him?”  
  
“No no no. Let’s—keep our voices down and not wake him up, okay?”  
  
“Okay,” Blue agreed, trying to figure out where this was going.  
  
Red sighed, then inhaled. “I … He … The thing is …”  
  
“Come sit down,” said Blue, and led him to the couch. The fox took up most of it, and his tail took up the rest.  
  
Red stared at his hands clasped in his lap.  
  
“What is it?” Blue prodded gently, hopping up next to him, letting Red’s tail curl around him.  
  
“He never wanted to be—he never wanted this, with Boss.”  
  
“What?” That made no sense. Why would he be having kits if he didn’t want to? Maybe—maybe he was just using Edge to get kits, and didn’t actually love him?  
  
“Boss—kind of—forced himself—on Carrots.” Red cringed between phrases.  
  
“What? You mean Papy just wanted a fling, and Edge wanted it to be more serious?” That would explain why Stretch was so upset, but then why—   
  
“No. No, that’s not—Carrots didn’t want ANY of it.”  
  
Blue gasped. “But, but that’s—”  
  
“I know.” Red cut him off. “And it’s my fault.”  
  
Blue was so horrified, he took a moment to catch up and register what the fox had said. “How can it be your fault?” That seemed ridiculous, though not nearly as important as the revelation that Stretch had been suffering through such abuse and Blue had been completely oblivious.  
  
“I … told Boss that … he did.” Red wasn’t looking at him, eye lights fixed somewhere on the carpet, ears pressed flat.  
  
“What?”  
  
“That Carrots would like to be … his mate.”  
  
“But why would you say that, if you knew it wasn’t true?”  
  
“To stop him from … eating him.”  
  
“What?” said Blue again. “I thought—” He’d thought Stretch wouldn’t fit through Edge’s jaws, and even if he did, what was the big deal? Red ate Blue all the time. Unless— “He didn’t want to be eaten?”  
  
Red somehow looked even guiltier. “No, he didn’t want to be—and Boss was going to—y’know—digest him.”  
  
“That’s—that’s terrible,” said Blue, then flinched at his own choice of words. Edge was supposed to be Terrible. “But I don’t see why you— What was Edge going to do about it? Papy’s too big for him to eat anyway.”  
  
“That’s what I thought, too.” Red closed his eyes and didn’t continue.  
  
“But?”  
  
“But he managed it somehow.”  
  
“You mean Edge really—?” Edge had really eaten Stretch? Without the bunny’s consent—without his cooperation? Blue couldn’t imagine how traumatic that must have been. “But that means you didn’t stop him. So why did you—?”  
  
“To stop him from gettin’ digested,” Red blurted, opening his eyes again to look at Blue, but quickly looking away again. “It was all I could think of.”  
  
“You mean …?”  
  
“I convinced Boss he’d make a better mate than a meal.”  
  
“And then …” Blue trailed off, and neither of them finished the sentence. He thought about how Stretch must have felt, trapped in this relationship he’d never wanted, with kits on the way, and Blue delighted about the whole thing. “I … I can’t believe this, I …”  
  
Red shrank away from him. “Never wanna see me again, right? I’ll—I’ll just go.”  
  
“What? No! I can’t believe I did this—pretended like nothing was wrong, like I didn’t notice he was upset about something. I could have—I could have pressed harder to find out—”  
  
Red reached out and hugged Blue against his jacket, using his other hand to wipe away some tears the bunny hadn’t even noticed he’d shed. “No, Blue, he’s not—He was pretending he was okay, to keep you from—He’ll understand. Hell, maybe he’ll kick me out for tellin’ ya.”  
  
“No, Red, I’m—I’m glad you told me.” Blueberry was crying in earnest now, speaking between sniffles. “Maybe between us we can, we can fix this somehow.”  
  
“I don’t know what we can do. Maybe I shouldn’ta told ya, like Carrots wanted, because what if there’s nothin’ we can do?” Red stroked Blue’s skull and ears, soothing him.  
  
Blue took hold of Red’s hand and stroked his metacarpals; the fox looked like he needed soothing just as badly as Blue did. “Of course there’s something we can do. There must be something.”  
  
“If Carrots doesn’t go ‘visit’ with Boss, he’ll just come here. And it’ll be worse, ‘cause he’s angry.”  
  
“I guess there’s no way he’ll stay away from Papy when he’s carrying his kits—How did that even happen, though, if Papy didn’t—?” Blue had no doubt Red was telling him the truth; why would he ever make up something this awful? But it still didn’t quite make sense.  
  
“How what?” Red was confused. “You—you know how kits are made, right?”  
  
“Yeah, but—You’re saying Papy didn’t want to have kits.”  
  
Red looked uncomfortable. “I’m a hundred percent sure he didn’t.”  
  
“Then how come he’s having kits?”  
  
Red looked lost.  
  
“Is it different for foxes? Here, we—or at least, I was always taught that kits wouldn’t happen unless—unless both partners wanted them to.”  
  
“Oh. I guess he’s probably stuck with them, then.”  
  
“You mean foxes have ways of—not having kits after all?”  
  
“Well, yeah. But I think if we took him to a fox, they’d just eat him and call it problem solved.”  
  
This was all a lot to take in. Blue mulled it over, leaning against Red. “We’ll just have to explain to Edge and ask him to give Papy some space.”  
  
“I tried—I tried to talk to him. It didn’t go very well.”  
  
“I can’t let him do anything to my brother again,” said Blue firmly. “You’re with me, aren’t you?”  
  
“Yeah, yeah, of course. But. I don’t think Carrots is gonna … really stand up to him, because … He can’t, he can’t risk Boss deciding he’s not really ‘mate’ material after all, because then he’s back to being food.”  
  
“He wouldn’t—not when he’s carrying his kits—would he?”  
  
“No, I don’t think so. But I didn’t think he’d do any of this in the first place.”  
  
“Of course not. But I’m sure he can be a good fox, if he tries.” Blueberry patted the fox’s arm. “Don’t worry, Red. We’ll work this out.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue tries to fix things.

Blueberry knocked on Stretch’s door. There was no answer, but it was unlocked, so he opened it far enough to lean inside. “Papy? How’re you feeling?”  
  
The lump of blankets huddled on the bed shifted slightly in answer.  
  
“I’m gonna go see Red. You don’t have to come.” Blue hadn’t yet managed to bring up what Red had told him the previous day. Stretch had been sleeping most of the time, and he’d seemed fine at dinner, and Blue hadn’t wanted to spoil the mood—or so he told himself. He knew he ought to have said something, if only so Stretch would know he had someone on his side. But if he sorted things out with Edge first, he’d have better news when he did tell Stretch.  
  
“Yes I do.” Stretch pushed his skull out from the blanket cocoon. If Blue had been expecting him to come along, he might have felt impatient.  
  
“No, you don’t. I’ll talk to Edge.”  
  
“Don’t—just keep away from him. I’m coming. Gimme a minute.” Ears drooping, Stretch shuddered as he extricated himself from the blanket and set his feet on the floor. How had Blue ever mistaken that dread for simple exhaustion?  
  
“No, Papy, it’s fine. You stay here and rest.”  
  
Stretch got to his feet with a grunt. “Can’t do that. He’ll just come here.”  
  
“I won’t let him.” Blue entered the room to push Stretch back onto the bed. “Red and I will…” Blue trailed off. He wasn’t sure what they would do, exactly. He was still counting on getting through to Edge with words, and then perhaps they’d all three hang out together, so that Edge wouldn’t feel left out. And they could make sure he didn’t go through the portal while they had their alone time—not that Edge seemed deceptive enough to do something like that.  
  
Stretch allowed himself to be pushed back into a sitting position, his expression suspicious. “Whaddaya mean, Sans? I promised I would go too.”  
  
“You don’t have to.” Why was Stretch fighting him like this? “You’re pregnant, so you’re allowed some leeway, and besides, that promise was under duress.”  
  
“What did Red tell you?”  
  
Blueberry sighed. “Everything.” Stretch looked away. “Papy, I’m so sorry, I didn’t—I didn’t know, but I should have—”  
  
“Not your fault,” Stretch said dully, still not looking at him.  
  
But it was, really. It was his fault that they were involved with the foxes at all, because he’d taken up with Red, and nearly gotten all three of them killed. Maybe foxes and bunnies just weren’t meant to be together. Blue straightened up and put on his most determined grin. “Red and I will fix this, Papy. You stay here and don’t worry.”  
  
Stretch finally looked at him, but he also looked like he might cry.  
  
“It’ll be okay, you’ll see!”  
  
“Okay,” Stretch agreed, anxious. “But promise me you won’t be alone with Edge.”  
  
“No problem! Red will be there the whole time. He did already save me from Edge once, you know.” Now he was glad he’d had to tell Stretch how Red had gotten that big crack in his eye socket. He had complete confidence that Red would protect him if it became necessary, and with how desperate Edge had been to prevent his brother from dusting, Blue had no doubt he would back down if he had to go through Red to get at him.  
  
“Okay,” said Stretch again, his voice breaking.  
  
Blue patted his forearm and left.  
  
***  
  
“Hi Red! Hi, Edge.” Blueberry tried to keep his voice normal, but it was hard to greet Edge like nothing was going on.  
  
“Hey Blue,” said Red. He was clearly nervous, sweat dripping down his skull, his ears not quite straight. Edge must have noticed.  
  
“Where’s Carrots?” Edge growled.  
  
“He’s not coming,” said Blueberry. “Edge, we need to talk.”  
  
“There is nothing to talk about.” Edge pushed Blue out of the way to access the portal still open behind him.  
  
The portal shrank and vanished, and Edge turned with a snarl to Red, who was at the controls. “What are you doing?”  
  
“Sorry, Boss. You can’t keep on doing this to Carrots.”  
  
“Doing what? Taking care of my own mate?!”  
  
“Edge,” Blue started diplomatically. “I think there are some … misunderstandings between you and Papy.”  
  
“Boss isn’t stupid, Blue. He only misunderstands because he doesn’t want to understand.” Red narrowed his eye sockets. “It’s inconvenient for him.”  
  
“I understand that you’re trying to keep me from my own mate and kits!” said Edge. “Though I certainly don’t understand why! Sans, open this portal at once!”  
  
“Now, Red, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt,” said Blueberry, with a placating gesture. Red was probably right, but if they let Edge save face by pretending he couldn’t have known better, he was more likely to agree to stop.  
  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Edge knelt down and took Blue by the shoulder, turning him to face Red. “But let there be no doubt in your mind what I will do if the two of you attempt to keep me from my mate.” His grip was tight enough to hurt.  
  
“W-what are you gonna do?” Blue asked.  
  
“You, I can just eat. Then perhaps my brother will have no reason to pursue this foolishness.”  
  
“Boss, no!” Red reached for him, but stopped as Edge’s fingers curled around the bunny’s rib cage.  
  
Edge spun him around again, pinned the bunny’s arms to either side of his ribs, and Blue kicked and struggled as the fox lifted him off the floor. “Edge, stop this! We’re not gonna let you hurt Papy!”  
  
“What are you going to do? Sans won’t fight me. And it’s not as if YOU can.” Edge smirked.  
  
Blue smacked him in the face with a bone attack.  
  
Edge didn’t even flinch. “Not bad for a bunny. I almost felt that.” He looked beyond Blue, toward Red. “I could just crush him to dust like this.”  
  
“N-no, please, Boss! Okay, you win!”  
  
Blue twisted to look over his shoulder. “No, Red! Stop!” But Red was frantically activating the portal, tail curled tightly between his legs.  
  
“That’s better,” Edge huffed triumphantly. He let Blue fall, only to catch him by his bandanna. Skeletons didn’t technically need to breathe, but he still felt like he was being choked as he dangled from the fox’s glove. The portal had reappeared. “Now, Sans, I’ll take this one with me. And if I see you at all before morning, Blue will pay the price.”  
  
Red’s eye lights shrank to pinpricks. “Boss, you’re not gonna—you can’t—”  
  
“Have I made myself clear?”  
  
“Yes, Boss.” Red backed away from the machine, ears pressed back, trying to make himself small.  
  
Blue lost sight of him as he was dragged through the portal. He looked up at Edge. What was the big fox going to do with him? And more importantly, how could he stop him from getting to Stretch?  
  
“Relax, Blue. I’m not going to eat you.” Edge carried him out of the lab.  
  
“But you said—”  
  
“Well, not unless Sans—Red—really forces my hand.”  
  
“But what about Papy?” By now they had entered the house. Blueberry kicked himself for not locking the front door, although he wasn’t certain Edge wouldn’t have just kicked it down.  
  
“Ah, yes, you do seem determined to keep me from being alone with my mate. I’ll have to stop you interfering somehow.”  
  
“No! I promised Papy I wouldn’t let you hurt him again!” He’d promised more explicitly not to be alone with Edge himself, but he hadn’t had any choice in the matter.  
  
Edge snorted dismissively. “I haven’t hurt him. You know how fragile he is.”  
  
“You have! You—you forced yourself on him! He didn’t want—”  
  
“What outlandish stories has Red been telling you? Carrots asked to be my mate; I didn’t ask him. And yesterday he specifically asked to—well, I won’t go into details. I have no idea why Red wants to tarnish my name like this. Are you so quick to believe it, because you resent being mated to the inferior brother?”  
  
“Red isn’t inferior!” Edge had managed to make Blue feel doubtful, but now he was only incensed. “Red would never—! Put me down and go back to your own universe!” He squirmed mightily and tried to kick the fox.  
  
“Hush, bunny. Ah, here we go.” He’d found some thick string. “If I put you in your room, will you stay there?”  
  
“No. I’ll stop you.”  
  
“See, that’s why I have to do this.” He set Blueberry on a kitchen chair and started winding the string around his wrists and the spokes of the back of the chair.  
  
“What are you doing?!” Blueberry demanded, trying to wrench his arms loose. But Edge didn’t answer, and seemed to know what he was about, not even perturbed by Blue’s attempts to escape. He did the bunny’s ankles next, and then reached around his skull to undo his bandanna. Blue tried to bite him, but his teeth only grazed the fox’s glove. Edge was the captain of the Royal Guard, he remembered, and they probably tied up and tortured prisoners all the time in that universe. For the first time his fear rivaled his outrage.  
  
“Can’t have you screaming your head off all night,” said Edge, and he retied the bandanna around Blue’s skull as a gag. He ruffled the bunny’s ears with sarcastic affection. “There. I’m sure someone will let you go in the morning. My mate will need breakfast, after all.”  
  
Blue turned his skull to watch as best he could as the fox climbed the stairs to Stretch’s room, tears of frustration soaking into his bandanna.  
  
***  
  
Well, Blueberry _knew_ now, there was no going back. Red shouldn’t have told him, but… strangely Stretch wasn’t as upset by it as he would’ve thought. That was mostly because he was hoping that Blueberry would find a way to fix it, like he’d said he would. How he’d accomplish that was hard to say, but maybe with Red’s help he’d figure something out, hopefully.  
  
No matter what though, Stretch was glad he didn’t have to go to Edge today; he was _not_ in the mood to deal with that right now, or ever again. Which meant he could go back to sleep and nap at least until Blueberry got back from visiting with Red.  
  
But it didn’t feel like he’d been sleeping for more than ten minutes before he was woken up once more by the sound of the door opening again. Had Blueberry forgotten something? Didn’t he normally knock before coming in though? With a groan, Stretch rolled over. “What’s…” It was Edge.  
  
“Good afternoon, Carrots,” he said as he shut the door.  
  
Stretch shrunk back into his blanket cocoon as if that could somehow protect him. What had happened to Blueberry and Red’s attempt to stop this? Had Edge hurt Blueberry? Surely Red would never allow such a thing.  
  
“Let me see the kits.” Edge moved to the bed and before Stretch could try to comply, resist, or even say anything, he was pulling the blanket off him. Stretch grabbed at it, not wanting to let go of what flimsy protection it offered, but it was no use. Once the blanket was off Edge bundled it at the foot of the bed and crouched down to roll Stretch’s shirt up, revealing his ecto-flesh and the soulings within underneath. “Very good,” he said with approval as he placed a hand over Stretch’s middle. “You’ve been taking care of yourself?”  
  
Shaking, Stretch nodded. “Y-yeah.” Under Blueberry’s insistence he’d been eating healthy; that was about it. But that was all the kits really needed, right? “But uh… where’s Blue?” If Edge had hurt Blueberry… Stretch wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.  
  
“Downstairs,” Edge replied, a look of distaste on his face. What had happened between the three of them? Edge wouldn’t have hurt Red, right? They were brothers.  
  
“Is he… okay?”  
  
“Yes, he’s fine. I didn’t hurt him despite the ridiculous claims he was making. My brother told him some lies, trying to slander my name. I’ll have to have a talk with him about that later.”  
  
At least Blueberry was okay, though exactly how okay was hard to know. Knowing him if he were able to he’d be trying to stop Edge from doing anything to Stretch, meaning he had to be incapacitated in some way. Hopefully just tied up or mildly drugged and not knocked unconscious or something. Where was Red though? Probably also made helpless in some way, be it through threats or something else. Either way Stretch seemed to be alone here.  
  
“What uh… sorta lies?” he asked. Maybe he could delay the inevitable a little bit.  
  
“Nothing you need to concern yourself with. Now come on, you’re shivering again, I’ll warm you up.”  
  
“You don’t have to.”  
  
“Nonsense, you’re my mate and carrying my kits, it’s my responsibility to take care of you.” Edge pulled himself up fully onto the bed. It creaked softly under his weight as he loomed over Stretch.  
  
“M-maybe we could just cuddle?” Stretch had to try, right? “The kits are uh… really taking a lot outta me.” He put a hand over his belly to emphasis his point. And it wasn’t a lie, they were draining his magic and leaving him unable to even teleport anymore.  
  
Edge frowned, shaking his head slightly in disapproval. “It’ll make you feel better, you know that.” He grabbed Stretch’s pants and pulled them off, laying them to the side. Stretch didn’t try to resist. “Summon your magic.”  
  
Ears pressed back, Stretch focused and forced his magic to form into a pussy. “C-can you, like uh… prepare me first this time?” So he’d at least be wet before Edge started fucking him and therefore it wouldn’t hurt as much. It would be a small mercy but… better. And it would delay the actual rape for a little bit.  
  
“What do you mean?” Edge’s magic had already manifested too, making a bulge in his pants.  
  
Stretch trembled as he hugged himself with his arms, gripping onto the sleeves of his hoodie. “Just, ya know… play with me some first.” He hated saying it but anything to _at least_ make it less physically painful was worth it, since there was no getting out of it at this point. Now that Blueberry knew, he could maybe try to hide next time Edge was scheduled to come over, but that wasn’t an option right now.  
  
“Sure,” Edge said with a shrug. He shifted Stretch so that he was lying perpendicular on the bed, his legs hanging off the side. Edge then slipped off to put himself between Stretch’s spread legs. He wasted no time manifesting his tongue and lapping at Stretch’s clit, surprising a moan out of him. It seemed his magic was getting more and more sensitive every day. He hated being pregnant.  
  
Edge huffed and said something under his breath that Stretch clearly wasn’t meant to hear but sounded a bit like, “And those idiots tried to say you don’t want this.” He then went back to work, drawing more moans out of Stretch’s mouth even as tears filled his eyes.  
  
It felt good though and quickly had him dripping wet. Edge didn’t stop there though, and kept going until Stretch convulsed in orgasm. He bit back on the moan, hating himself for how unintentionally vocal he was during this awful ordeal. It sounded like he liked it, could he be any more shameful and disgusting?  
  
“There, that should do,” Edge said as he pushed himself back up onto the bed. He moved Stretch so that he was lying with his head on the pillow once more. Edge then undid his own pants to free his dick and, ignoring Stretch’s instinctive squeak of protest, grabbed hold of his upper legs to pull him up and thrust into him.  
  
It didn’t hurt, for once. In fact, with Stretch’s magic slick and loosened from orgasm, Edge’s cock actually felt really good as it pressed into him. He moaned as he clenched around it, hating how sensitive and horny his pregnancy had made him.  
  
Edge paused, his magic hilted fully in Stretch’s pussy. “See? You feel better already.” It wasn’t a question but a statement, as if he could somehow know how Stretch felt. He didn’t feel better, though; each subsequent rape seemed worse than the previous one. It had to even out eventually, right? Where they were all just as bad as each other and didn’t mean anything.  
  
Edge started moving, gentler than he had that first terrible night but far from actually being gentle. But already being wet and turned on made it feel good this time. Which is what Stretch had wanted—it hurt less, therefore it was better even if it was only by a little bit. Though it was worse in a way too: without the pain, all he physically felt was the pleasure. How could something so horrible feel good too? It wasn’t fair.  
  
What made it even worse this time was that he was on back; he could see Edge’s face and Edge could see his. He couldn’t hide his tears like this, not that he’d been able to do so very well the other times. But now he couldn’t even pretend to. But Edge didn’t care, he was clearly enjoying it, grunting and making other noises of pleasure as he thrust in over and over, a disgustingly satisfied smile on his face.  
  
Trying hard to hold back his own pleasured moans, Stretch closed his eyes and turned his head to the side. Pressure was building in his pussy again. He’d be coming twice tonight, maybe more if Edge wanted to use him for longer and/or stuck around long enough to want to go again.  
  
When Edge climaxed, he let out that same yip-like bark moan he always did as he slammed himself all the way in, the knot setting in. The gush of warmth into the sensitive walls of his magic sent Stretch over the edge too. He put a hand over his mouth to stifle his moan, arching his body as his pussy clamped around Edge’s dick.  
  
He came down feeling twice as exhausted as he had before Edge had shown up, a feat he wouldn’t have thought possible. If it wasn’t for Edge’s weight and presence above him and his cock inside him, filling him with gross magic he would’ve fallen asleep right then and there. He was hungry too. All he could do about any of it, though, was cry. He’d been doing a lot of that lately.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue and Red make another plan. Things immediately deviate from the plan.

Blueberry didn’t get any sleep tied to the chair. It was uncomfortable, and, at first anyway, he could hear faint sounds from Stretch’s room. At least it wasn’t Stretch crying in pain—if Red hadn’t told him anything, he wouldn’t even have suspected what was actually happening—but he kept bracing himself for something worse. It never came. If he hadn’t known better, he would have thought it was just a little awkward that he could hear Stretch moaning, but as it was, it was unbearable. Eventually quiet took over. That didn’t mean Stretch’s suffering was finished—Red had taught him about knotting. He kept wrenching against his bonds but didn’t manage to do anything but cut off magical circulation to his hands.  
  
Eventually he lost track of time. Why wasn’t Red coming to help him? Edge had threatened him, but there would be no consequences if Edge didn’t see him. He allowed himself some anger at Red—better to feel it now, when Red wasn’t here. It was Blue’s own fault, really, though. He’d been standing too close to Edge and gotten himself captured immediately when things didn’t go as he’d planned.  
  
He wasn’t dozing, though, just zoning out, when he finally heard Stretch’s door open. Some irrationally optimistic part of his mind insisted Stretch was coming to free him, but logically he wasn’t surprised when Edge came down the stairs instead. The fox hesitated by the door, then came over to him and snapped the string around his wrists using only his hands.  
  
Blueberry glared at him from behind the gag, rubbing circulation back into his hands. The fox freed his legs, and reached for the gag, but Blueberry blocked him despite his arms being clumsy with disuse.  
  
“Suit yourself,” said Edge. “I thought you’d be just as glad not to wait for my brother to think to check on you. Or to make Carrots come down when he wakes up hungry, and not have breakfast ready.”  
  
Blue was almost glad he was still fumbling to untie the bandanna from his mouth, because it meant he didn’t have to think of an answer to that. Edge was gone by the time he’d undone the knot and hurriedly retied the bandanna around his neck where it belonged. He didn’t want to worry Stretch by showing up too disheveled. He sprinted toward the stairs and ran smack into Red as he appeared in the middle of the living room.  
  
“About time you showed up,” Blue snapped, pushing past him to the stairs.  
  
“I—I’m sorry, I just heard Boss get back—” Red followed him.  
  
“And you didn’t dare do anything before that!” Of course. Red hadn’t wanted to risk Edge seeing him by coming here, but once Edge was safely home, Red had arrived in a matter of seconds. Blue shouldn’t be so angry; Red had stayed away to protect him. For all he’d known, Edge could have been waiting at the portal for him. Never mind; there were more important things right now. He opened the door to Stretch’s room. “Papy? Are you—okay?” What a stupid question. Of course he wasn’t okay.  
  
***  
  
The sound of someone opening the door without knocking first shocked Stretch awake. He’d already curled up in a corner of the bed before he recognized Blueberry’s voice. “Yeah, I’m … fine,” he lied.  
  
“Mind if I turn on the light?”  
  
“Go ahead.” Stretch would stay buried in the blanket so that nobody would see him. It would be fine.  
  
The lights flickered on, and Stretch peeked out to see Red following Blue into the room. Blue’s face was tear-streaked and the fox seemed crestfallen. Blue ran up to the bed, then hesitated. “I’m so sorry, Papy. We—we failed. It was my fault, I—” He burst into tears.  
  
“What? How was it your fault?” said Red, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I’m the one that was too much of a coward to come and help ya.”  
  
“You were just trying to protect me. I’m the one that got captured and—and taken hostage, right off the bat.” Blueberry was trying to wipe away the tears but they just kept coming. “But there’s no excuse. We said we’d—we’d protect you, Papy, and we didn’t.”  
  
If Stretch was angry at anyone, it was at himself for expecting them to be able to do anything to stop Edge, for letting Blue put himself at risk like this. “It’s okay, Blue. I know ya tried.” He couldn’t quite find the energy to get up and give Blue a hug, and he really didn’t want to invite him onto the bed after what had happened there. “What did he do to ya? You’re not hurt?”  
  
“No, I’m fine, he just—tied me to a chair so I wouldn’t come in here. And he threatened Red so he couldn’t come after us.”  
  
Stretch didn’t feel so generous toward the fox. “What did he threaten to do to Red?”  
  
“Nothin’,” said Red. “He wasn’t gonna do anything to me. But he said he would hurt Blue.”  
  
“I see. Blue, I don’t want you anywhere near that fox.”  
  
Blue reached up and held the hand Red had left on his shoulder.  
  
Stretch continued. “Even if—if Edge comes and—has his way with me again, I don’t want you to, like, fight him off. You can’t. He’s too strong.”  
  
“I—I can—There must be something I can do.”  
  
“Please, promise me. I’m afraid of what he’ll do to you. And I don’t want you to see me like that.” If Blue barged in on them in the middle of things, he could all too easily imagine Edge dusting him, the fastest and easiest way to stop the intrusion. Failing that, what if Blue ended up immobilized but there in the room watching, perhaps pinned under a couple bone constructs, or even trapped inside Edge’s belly? That would make everything a hundred times worse.  
  
Blue seemed reluctant to promise, looking miserably up at Stretch. Letting go of Red, he laid his hands on the bed and Stretch reached out to take one.   
  
“We just have to break the machine,” said Red abruptly.  
  
“What?” said Blue.  
  
“Then Boss won’t be able to get at Carrots. If Carrots is here and Boss is there.”  
  
“But Red—what about—?” Fresh tears welled in Blue’s eyes as he looked down at his fingers intertwined with Stretch’s. “No, you’re right. I don’t want to lose you, Red, but I can’t put my own happiness over Papy’s. And, with things how they are now, none of us is really happy.” He and Red had been so happy together—they’d all been reasonably happy before this awful thing had happened to Stretch. Why couldn’t time have just stopped then? Stretch winced, wishing he’d just managed to fight Edge off or escape from him instead of getting eaten that first time. Or just stayed out of the foxes’ universe in the first place.  
  
“It’s not—it doesn’t have to be forever, Blue.” Red shrank into the collar of his jacket. “I just gotta disable the machine on the fox side—maybe not bad enough that it can’t be fixed. But even if it can’t, you can keep your machine on this side, and we’ve got phones. You could open the portal for me to come visit you.”  
  
“That won’t be so bad.” Blue lit up with hope.  
  
“But—we shouldn’t do it for a while. Until Boss has given up on getting Carrots back. I—I should pretend I lost my phone, so he won’t use me to contact you guys.”  
  
“It might take Edge a long time to give up.” Blue’s face fell again. “But! It’s a lot better than forever.”  
  
“We’ve got a day or two to plan it out, I guess.”  
  
“Yeah! We’ll make sure we all have hard copies of each other’s phone numbers, and we can arrange check-ins, in case you can’t get a message to me, and—” Blue hugged his fox boyfriend.  
  
“Yeah, all that stuff.” Red put his arm around Blue, but didn’t seem as excited by the prospect of playing spy. Stretch was touched, as much as he could be past all the numbness, that they would go to such trouble and sacrifice so much for him.  
  
“You’re gonna have to memorize it all,” Blue warned, “because it would be bad if it was written down and Edge found it. We’d better start today. And—I guess this’ll be our last couple days together for a while.”  
  
“Yeah,” Red agreed.  
  
“Papy, is there anything we can do for you?” Blue let go of Red, embarrassed to have forgotten momentarily that he was here to provide his brother any comfort he could.  
  
“No, no, I’m—well, yes, actually,” Stretch answered, keeping his voice light. “The two of you could go make breakfast. The kits and I are hungry. Thank you.” He finished in a more solemn tone, not talking about breakfast.  
  
***  
  
Red stayed, helping somewhat ineffectually with the kitchen chores and mostly listening to Blueberry make and revise and discard plans for how they would get back in touch after the foxes’ machine was sabotaged. After breakfast, Blueberry sewed his and Stretch’s contact information into the lining of Red’s jacket, where Edge was unlikely to find it, just in case Red actually lost his phone or was forced to destroy it to keep it away from Edge. Red found the whole project exhausting, but if this was what he had to do to see Blueberry again, he would manage somehow.  
  
He still fell asleep after lunch. Blueberry had stayed home—his outside commitments were reduced anyway, so he could look after Stretch, who was on maternity leave. By evening, they had a workable plan, and Blue was satisfied Red had memorized the important parts, even if he couldn’t stop fiddling with the details.  
  
“Can you stay the night?” Blue asked shyly. Red was lounging on his bed, while the bunny shuffled papers he’d been using to make notes on the table where his action figures usually lived.  
  
“I wish I could. Boss might wonder where I am.”  
  
Just then, Red’s phone buzzed insistently. Red didn’t dare ignore it. Boss would easily guess where he was and come get him, and who knew what else he would do while he was here? He flipped it open. “Hi Boss.”  
  
“Sans, are you hanging around with those bunnies?” Edge scolded, less intimidating over the phone than in person.  
  
“Yeah, but I was just about to head back.”  
  
“Don’t bother. I want you to keep Blueberry occupied tonight.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“I’m concerned about Carrots. All your shenanigans are stressing him out. It could stunt the growth of the kits.”  
  
“Boss, if anything, you’re the one who is stressing him out.”  
  
“See, that’s exactly what I mean! I think I should spend every night with Carrots. I don’t trust you two not to fill his head with strange notions.”  
  
“I—I really don’t think that’s necessary, Boss. I haven’t been talkin’ to Carrots, anyway, just Blue.”  
  
“Have you two been plotting how to keep Carrots away from me?”  
  
“Uh. No.”  
  
“Then what were you talking about?”  
  
“Uh. You know, the usual. We were just hanging out. I slept through part of it.”  
  
“Fine, whatever. Stay there, or rather, go to Blue’s room, and take him with you. Then keep him there for the rest of the night.”  
  
“What? Why?”  
  
“So he won’t come bother me and Carrots, of course.”  
  
“What? No. Why don’t you and Carrots just not do anything you wouldn’t want to be bothered in the middle of?”  
  
“We’ll do whatever Carrots needs, and you two will stay out of it. Do I need to tell you what I’ll do if Blue comes barging in to disturb us?”  
  
Red gulped. “Eat him?”  
  
“If he’s lucky.”  
  
Red glanced at the bunny, listening anxiously to his half of the conversation. If being eaten was the less-bad option, what would happen if he was unlucky? Surely Edge wouldn’t dust Carrots’ brother right in front of him? “Okay, Boss, I get it. We won’t bother ya.”  
  
“Good. Remember. I don’t want to see either of you until morning.”  
  
Red hung up, considering whether he had time to get home and sabotage the machine before Edge could make it to the lab. It seemed doubtful, especially if he wanted to make it look like a malfunction or glitch, rather than deliberate sabotage, which they’d decided was a good idea for the sake of Red’s safety. But he couldn’t help but wonder if he just thought that because he didn’t want to be separated from Blue just yet.  
  
“What did he say?” Blue’s voice quavered.  
  
“He’s, uh … coming to see Carrots tonight. Right now.”  
  
“No! But he just came last night!”  
  
“Yeah, I know. We—we just gotta lay low one more night. Tomorrow when he’s on patrol I’ll take care of the machine.”  
  
“What if he doesn’t leave tomorrow?”  
  
“He won’t abandon his duties. Maybe he won’t even—maybe they’ll just sleep tonight.”  
  
“I won’t let him get near Papy. This time I won’t get caught.” Blue started toward the door.  
  
Red teleported in front of him, locked the door and sat down leaning against it. “I can’t let you go out there. He’ll eat you.”  
  
“I won’t let him.”  
  
“Then he’ll just dust you.”  
  
“He wouldn’t!”  
  
“I dunno, Blue. We can’t risk it.”  
  
“Move, Red! I think I hear him coming in!”  
  
“Shh! Shut up!” Red grabbed Blue and pressed his hand over the bunny’s mouth until Edge’s footsteps went past the door. They heard Stretch’s door open and shut.  
  
Blueberry bit his hand, though not very hard.  
  
“Ouch! Blue!” Red let go.  
  
The bunny tried to shove him away from the door, but he was so much smaller, it was hopeless. “Fine. I’m going out the window,” Blue said.  
  
Red stretched out and grabbed him, pinning him beneath himself on the carpet. “Blue, no. Carrots said he didn’t want you to interfere, remember? Nobody wants you to get hurt.”  
  
“Let me go! Red!” The bunny tried futilely to shove him off, then switched tactics to pulling himself out from underneath the fox.  
  
“Blue, please.” Red hugged him to his chest and sat up. “I don’t want anythin’ to happen to Carrots, either. But the only thing worse than that would be somethin’ happenin’ to you.”  
  
“You don’t care. You let this happen to him!” Blue stopped struggling to give Red an angry glare.  
  
“No I d—well, you’re right that I shoulda told ya sooner,” Red admitted. “But you know Carrots didn’t want ya t’know. And if you can’t sit and wait a few hours so that we can actually have a chance of fixin’ this, maybe he was right not to tell ya.”  
  
Blue favored him with an un-bunny-like growl and then twisted out of his grasp before he could react. He went for the door and had it unlocked by the time Red grabbed him again.  
  
“Blue, I’m not gonna wrestle you all night,” Red growled.  
  
“Then let me go!”  
  
“I will if you stop trying to escape!”  
  
“You expect me to just sit here while Edge is … Edge is _violating_ my brother?!”  
  
Red grimaced. It did sound unreasonable.  
  
“Just because _you_ sat there and did nothing…!” Blue made an anguished sound and redoubled his efforts to squirm out of Red’s arms again.  
  
“Now look here.” Red pressed the bunny none-too-gently against the carpet. “Your bro and I don’t want you gettin’ yourself killed, or even hurt, to protect us—either of us.”  
  
Blueberry’s eyes blazed and he bit Red’s hand again, harder this time. But Red didn’t let go.  
  
“If this is the way it’s gonna be,” he said, wincing as he pulled his bitten hand free, “I’ve got one more trick up my sleeve.” Holding Blue down, he stretched his jaws wide. He caught a glimpse of Blue’s terrified face before he closed his mouth around the bunny’s skull.  
  
“No! Red, st—!” Blue’s protests were muffled into unintelligibility as Red pushed his jaws down around the bunny’s shoulders, forcing him to sit up, resting his teeth on Blue’s ribs through his shirt. He hoped Stretch couldn’t hear this—perhaps that was a bad thing to hope for, considering what might be distracting him. At least Blue was quieter as the fox gulped down his skull and ribs; probably because he had the breath squeezed out of him. His arms were pinned to his sides by Red’s jaws, but he still kicked until Red swallowed him deep enough to gently but firmly bite down on his tibiae. Finally he swallowed the bunny’s feet, boots and all. If Blue was angry at him later about getting fox spit on his boots, he would welcome it compared to all the other things Blue had to be angry at him about.  
  
Red sprawled on the carpet, feeling too guilty to get up on the bed. Inside his stomach, Blue was making his displeasure known, kicking and squirming mightily. Red felt terrible about it, mentally, but it was actually quite nice, physically. If Blue ever forgave him for this, he’d have to ask Blue to squirm more, sometimes. But who was he kidding? Tomorrow they’d part ways with Blue furious with him, for good reason, and maybe they’d never speak again.   
  
Blue couldn’t keep it up all night, surely; but every time Red thought the bunny had finally worn himself out, he started up again. That was fine, though. It wasn’t like Red was going to be able to sleep with all the guilt gnawing at him anyway.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stretch gets his hopes up. Things continue to not go as planned.

Half curled in the corner of the bed, Stretch looked down at his middle and the soulings inside, poking it with his finger. If he hadn’t gotten pregnant from that first time, would Edge be less insistent about them spending time together? Probably not but who knows? It would’ve been better if he hadn’t gotten eaten and then raped that night at all.  
  
But it would be over soon. Red would sabotage the machine on his end and then Stretch would never have to see Edge again. And Red should be able to accomplish that before Edge’s next scheduled visit. Meaning Stretch was already free of him. He’d be super happy and excited about that fact as soon as it was confirmed and he had to the energy to feel so.  
  
The door to his room suddenly opened. He jumped as he yanked his shirt back down. He turned to scold whoever it was, Blueberry or Red, for not knocking, but froze in terror instead.  
  
“Hello, Carrots,” Edge said as he closed the door behind himself.  
  
Stretch shrank away, pressing himself as far back as he could. “What are you doing here?” He’d just been here just last night, why would he come over two nights in a row? It _wasn’t_ fair.  
  
“To make sure that you and the kits are all right and that the silly notions my brother put into Blueberry’s head aren’t stressing you too much. Stress is the last thing you need when you’re carrying kits; it could stunt their growth or cause you to miscarry. So, I’ll be spending the night with you every night. Now let me see the kits.” He started moving closer.  
  
Trembling, Stretch obeyed and pulled his shirt back up. Edge settled down on the bed next to him to peer down at his belly. Where was Blueberry though? Hopefully he didn’t know about this. If he did, he’d try do something about it and undoubtedly get himself hurt, possibly killed. Red would keep him safe and occupied though; pretty much the only thing Red could be relied on to do was doing his best to keep Blueberry safe.  
  
Edge rubbed an approving hand over Stretch’s belly. “Very good. They’re going to be big and strong.”  
  
Stretch hoped not. The bigger they got while he was still carrying them the fatter he’d be and therefore more uncomfortable. Not to mention how awful birthing them would be. Gosh, that was really something he was going to be forced to endure at the end this, wasn’t it? He’d always heard it was super painful.  
  
Edge opened his mouth to say something more but Stretch spoke first. “Can we just cuddle please?” he blurted out. “I just wanna cuddle.” He didn’t but he’d prefer cuddling to being raped again. “I’m too tired for sex and… cuddling will keep me plenty warm.” He was trembling like he always did when he was scared – like _every_ rabbit did when they were scared – which apparently looked like shivering to Edge.  
  
Edge frowned at him, disapproving. “How many times do I have to prove to you that sex helps you feel better? You’re always much more relaxed afterward.” ‘Relaxed’ wasn’t the right word; ‘exhausted’ and ‘filled with despair’ were better ones. “So, come on.” He physically lifted Stretch to lay him more solidly in middle of the bed. He stayed curled up though, much to Edge’s visible displeasure.  
  
“ _Please_ not now, _please_ ,” Stretch begged. He _couldn’t_ do this again, not so soon after the last time. “H-how ‘bout we do this tomorrow morning instead?” He could wake up _super_ early and sneak out before Edge woke up. He could find somewhere to hide until Edge gave up and decided to go home to his duties for the time being. Then Red could sabotage the machine over there and the problem would be taken care of.  
  
Edge gave him another disapproving look. He was a master at such things. “We can do it again in the morning if you want but you clearly need it now too. You’re way too stressed out and need to relax. We can do oral again if you like before getting to proper sex.”  
  
Stretch whimpered and shook, tears streaming from eyes. It _wasn’t_ fair, why’d this have to happen to him? He hadn’t done anything to deserve this, had he?  
  
He glanced at Edge again. The annoyance on his face was now borderline anger. Things wouldn’t go well for Stretch if he tried to resist and it’s not like this wasn’t something he’d done before. This would be the last time… hopefully. So, with another whimper that sounded pathetic even to his own ears, he uncurled and relaxed his body. This would be the last time though and then he’d never have to have sex again if he didn’t want to.  
  
“There, much better.” Edge’s voice was brimming approval as he grabbed hold of the collar of Stretch’s hoodie and pulled him to sit on the edge of the bed. What was going on here? Before Stretch could try to figure it out he was presented Edge’s dick in his face as he stroked it to get it to harden. “You go first this time.”  
  
Well, it wasn’t like Stretch really had a choice. He formed his magic in his throat and mouth as he opened it and forced himself to put it over the head of Edge’s dick. This would hopefully be the last time he’d ever have to see it though. He’d make it fast.  
  
But there was no force in the world that could make him good at this. And putting effort into it was impossible. Right now, he didn’t have the energy to do things he’d actually want to do, let alone something he actively did _not_ want any part in. As a result, it was only a few seconds before Edge took matters into his own hands. He thrust all the way in, holding a hand on the back of Stretch’s skull so when he gagged and instinctively tried to pull away, he couldn’t.  
  
Tears streaming down his face, Stretch forced himself to relax as much possible as he swallowed around Edge’s thick length, his throat burning at the harsh intrusion. He gripped onto Edge’s legs to steady himself as much as possible as he let Edge have his way. At least he was being what he would probably call as gentle as possible about it.  
  
Edge moaned softly as he thrust in. “We haven’t even gotten to you yet and you’re already calmer.” Stretch groaned around his dick as a fresh wave of tears formed in his eyes. He was only ‘calmer’ because he’d given up and accepted his fate. This would be the _last_ time though… hopefully. He’d be free of Edge starting tomorrow.  
  
When Edge climaxed, moaning loudly as he thrust roughly all the way in as the knot set in the place, Stretch was more prepared for it because of the last time they’d done this. But he wasn’t quite prepared enough as the sudden gush of cum down his throat still made him gag before he caught himself and started swallowing. The knot was perhaps one of the _worst_ parts about all this fucked up shit. Why couldn’t foxes come like _normal_ people did? Why did it have to go on for so damn long?  
  
As Stretch was forced to gulp down Edge’s cum, Edge pet a hand over his skull and ears. He was a bit rougher than he really needed to be but it felt nice anyway. “Drinking almost pure magic like this should be good for the kits too, shouldn’t it?” That was maybe true; Stretch didn’t know enough about that kind of stuff to make even an educated guess, but it made some degree of sense. “We’ll have to do this more often.”  
  
Stretch groaned at just the thought. He couldn’t think of anything worse. Why couldn’t it just be tomorrow already?  
  
The knot seemed to last for much longer than it had last time. By the time it _finally_ softened and Edge pulled out, Stretch’s jaw ached more than a little from the strain. He whimpered as he rubbed at it. At least that part was over now though.  
  
“Now your turn,” Edge said as he dispelled his magic and fixed his pants.  
  
Stretch would be just fine not having a turn but saying so would get him nowhere. So, with another groan he removed his own pants, lay back on the bed, and forced his magic to form into a pussy. Oral wasn’t so bad when it was being done to him. And afterward the sex should be done, right? Unless Edge decided they needed to have proper sex too. Hopefully he wouldn’t.  
  
Just like last night, Edge crouched down on the floor to get between Stretch’s legs. As his smooth tongue pressed to his clit Stretch didn’t bother trying to hold back his moan; he didn’t have the energy to. He should at least try though, in case someone overheard him, but… he had a hard time caring right now. The only person he’d really be upset about overhearing this was Blueberry and he was hopefully being entertained and kept away and ignorant of this stuff by Red. Meaning he wouldn’t be in earshot… hopefully.  
  
Edge was unfairly skilled with his tongue and soon had Stretch dripping wet and panting under his ministrations. It felt good and should be the last time, thank goodness. An intense climax soon rolled through him, leaving him shuddering and crying even harder.  
  
“Is it over?” he asked as he body relaxed, his voice pitifully and shamefully pathetic. “Are we done?” He couldn’t take any more, he just wanted to sleep. How was it even possible to be this exhausted without passing out? “I need sleep.” He put a hand over his middle, hoping to remind Edge of the kits and the toll they were taking on his body and energy reserves.  
  
“No, we can have proper sex too to make sure you’re relaxed enough to fall asleep right away. Now up onto your hands and knees.”  
  
Stretch groaned but obeyed. He was wet and his magic was relaxed so it’d feel good again at least. And this would be the last time, it _had_ to be.  
  
Edge huffed as he got up onto the bed again to loom behind Stretch. “Honestly I have no idea where my brother gets some of his ideas from. Maybe he’s just jealous because I have the better mate.” By ‘better’ he could only mean ‘more obedient,’ because no one in their right mind would call someone who tried talk their way out of sex so often and cried all the time during it a good mate. So, Stretch didn’t even bother feeling offended on Blueberry’s behalf.  
  
Edge lined himself up with Stretch’s still summoned pussy and thrust in, drawing another sound out of him. Whether it was mostly a pleasured sound or one filled with despair not even Stretch knew for sure.  
  
“Or maybe he’s jealous of the kits,” Edge said. He was thrusting into Stretch a bit harder than he had yesterday, making the bed creak and rock under them. Stretch would’ve been unable to stay quiet even if he’d had the energy to try. “Maybe Blueberry’s infertile, while you clearly aren’t. Well, that’s his own fault for choosing the wrong mate. If he wants kits he can just eat Blueberry and find a better mate, because you’re mine and I have no interest in sharing.”  
  
“Don’t… talk about… my brother like that,” Stretch panted out, looking back to scowl at Edge. Even with what was going on right now and through his fear and exhaustion, hearing Edge so casually and blatantly talk about Blueberry dying made him mad.  
  
Edge scoffed but didn’t say anything as he kept fucking Stretch.  
  
Stretch’s arms soon grew shaky with the effort of holding himself up. Panting, he let himself collapse, Edge’s hold on him being the only thing keeping his hips in the air as he thrust into him. He pushed his face into pillow beneath him to hide his tears and muffle the moans and other noises he couldn’t stop escaping from his mouth. He was getting close to climax again and he hated it.  
  
He clenched his magic around Edge’s as it filled him. He just wanted this to be over so he could sleep and forget everything for a little while. If only he could sleep for forever and _never_ have to think about all this or the kits in his belly ever again.  
  
Soon Edge sped up, pressing down on Stretch’s front as he pounded into his pussy. Stretch yelped as waves of gross-feeling pleasure washed through him, his body arching as he orgasmed. Edge growled in pleasure, a few more thrusts bringing him to climax too. The size of the knot was and would always be uncomfortable – it was too big for it to be otherwise – but the flood of warmth into the now extra sensitive walls of Stretch’s magic was growing more and more pleasurable the more used to it he got.  
  
He groaned at the realization. But this would be the last time, no more sex after this. He, Blueberry, and Red would sort this problem out tomorrow. Everything would be fine then and then all he’d have to worry about would be the kits and what he was going to do with them once they were born, whether he’d keep them or give them up for adoption. The latter would be difficult with the way his world thought of reproduction – how offspring could only be conceived when both parents wanted that to happen – but it did happen occasionally so it was a possibility.  
  
“See, you’re much more relaxed now,” Edge said as he pet Stretch’s head and ears.  
  
Stretch groaned, too tired to say anything to that even if he’d been willing to. With his exhaustion, the petting was enough to drive him towards sleep. He didn’t fight it and let himself drift off.  
  
***  
  
Red lay awake all night, but Blueberry eventually cried himself to sleep inside the fox’s ecto-belly. The house was still quiet when he felt the bunny stir. It was probably around the time he usually woke up.  
  
Red dismissed his magic so that Blue woke to find himself curled up on Red’s spine, but free. Red lay still, face-up on the carpet, while the bunny extricated himself from his sweater. When he was clear, Red sat up. Blue gave him a hard, brittle look, angry and hurt by his betrayal.  
  
“Uh,” said Red, to break the unbearable silence. “Mornin’, Blue. I’ll—I’ll get out of your hair.” Oh, that was a great chance for a rabbit/hare pun and he’d missed it. Blue probably wasn’t in the mood anyway. “Nobody else is up yet, I don’t think.” He got to his feet. “I’m gonna go ahead and take care of the machine, after Boss gets back, so … probably best to just stay out of his way and let him go. So, uh … goodbye.”  
  
Blue sighed and looked away, ears drooping but more relaxed. “Okay. Thank you.”  
  
Red had his hand on the doorknob when Blue stopped him. “Red. Don’t forget to call next week like we planned, if you can.”  
  
“Right. See ya … eventually.” Red opened the door and left without turning around, not wanting Blue to see the tears gathering in his eye sockets. He teleported from the hall to the lab, crossed to his own lab, and teleported to his room to wait for Edge to get back. He couldn’t be caught hanging around the machine before it ‘malfunctioned.’  
  
Blue hadn’t told him he never wanted to see him again, even after what he’d done. It was almost too good to be true. He wasn’t going to cry. That would make Edge suspicious. Or maybe it would be good? If he and Blue had had a fight—which they had, actually—it would be a good excuse for him not to try too hard to fix the machine. Maybe, he thought in a flight of optimism, if he appeared to lose interest in Blue, Edge would be less interested in Stretch as well! That really was hoping for too much, though, considering the bunny was having Edge’s kits.  
  
He lay there lost in thought until he heard the door slam downstairs. Edge was back, and muttering to himself, it sounded like. Red heard his footsteps up the stairs and into his own room. He didn’t sound pleased; hopefully it was just his usual surliness and not something Blue had done. Red thought he had better stay put until Edge left the house to go on patrol or meet with the other Guards. That would give him plenty of time to work on the machine.  
  
His phone buzzed. Who would be calling him at this time in the morning? He fished it out of his pocket and checked the display. It was Blueberry. He immediately flipped it open. “Blue? What is it?” he asked, keeping his voice low.  
  
“It’s Edge, he took—he took Papy!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note that there is an [alternate chapter 9](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13807413), if you are itching for Edge to get some serious comeuppance.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stretch visits the fox universe again, unwillingly.

After Red was gone, Blueberry hesitated at the door to his room. Should he hole up here in safety until Edge had left? He looked down the hall to Stretch’s door. Should he go chase Edge out, even if it was too late to do any real good? No, he had to admit he couldn’t take the fox in a fair fight, so as good as it would feel to kick him out of his house, it probably wasn’t realistic and trying it would just be asking for trouble. Red would commence with their plan as soon as Edge was back in his own universe where he belonged, so the best thing was not to interfere. Still, he didn’t like feeling like a prisoner in his own home. He could show the fox he wasn’t scared by going about his morning routine and making breakfast—for rabbits only.  
  
He was halfway done with his patented breakfast tacos when Edge came downstairs. Blue had half a mind to pointedly ignore him, but something made him turn to look at the fox. Stretch was curled up in his arms, pressed against his chest, his eyes squeezed shut.  
  
“Papy?!” Blue dropped his spatula and ran toward the fox. Edge stopped him with a vicious glare.  
  
“I’ve decided he should stay with me, at least for the duration of his pregnancy. I don’t trust you with him after what you’ve done.”  
  
“No! You can’t!” Blue held back the urge to summon attacks. He couldn’t risk hitting Stretch. Instead, he jumped up and hung from Edge’s arm, trying to reach his brother.  
  
Edge shook him off. “Oh, don’t be so dramatic. You can come visit him. Perhaps you can help cook for him, too. I will admit you have more experience cooking for rabbits.”  
  
“No!” Blue leaped for his brother again, and Edge kicked him away.  
  
“Honestly, Blue, you’re only worrying him by making such a scene. Look, Carrots, you’re shivering again. I told you I should warm you up one more time before we leave. Now I may as well do it after we get home.”  
  
By the time Blue had picked himself up, Edge was letting himself out the front door. The kick had been like nothing to the fox, but it had hurt. Stretch seemed to be trying to escape his situation by keeping his eyes shut and pretending it wasn’t happening, but as Edge turned to close the door, his fearful eye socket met Blueberry’s, and his jaw moved silently. It was hard to read lips with skeletons, but Blueberry was pretty sure his brother had called his name.  
  
His vision blurred—hopefully that was just tears, not some injury from being kicked—as he reached for his phone and realized he’d left it in his room. He limped up the stairs to get it—limping was a bad sign, but at least he could see fine when he blinked away the tears, until more took their place. Fortunately he barely needed to see to go through the familiar menu to call Red. The few moments it took the other skeleton to answer seemed like an eternity.  
  
“Blue? What is it?”  
  
“It’s Edge, he took—he took Papy!”  
  
“Oh. Oh no. Don’t—don’t worry, Blue, I’ll take care of it. He’s gotta leave sometime, and when he does I’ll bring Carrots back and then we’ll go through with the plan.”  
  
“Okay,” said Blue, his voice high and fragile.  
  
“Are you—look, Blue, it’s gonna be okay. I can’t talk, I don’t want him to hear me. But I swear, it’ll all be fine, you don’t gotta worry.”  
  
“R-right. Thank you, Red. I—I love you.”  
  
“Love you too,” said Red, and hung up.  
  
***  
  
After exiting the house, Stretch kept his eyes stubbornly closed as if that could somehow make this not real. It was too bad things didn’t work that way. Edge was holding him a bit tighter than was necessary. There was no point trying to escape his grasp when the kits made it impossible to teleport.  
  
He kept his eyes closed even when Edge shifted to hold him with one arm while he messed with the machine. They were then through the portal into the slightly colder world of the foxes; it was too late to get away. That had been true since the moment Edge had decided to bring him home with him though.  
  
Then they were in the house and going up the creaky stairs. Then another door opened and closed. Suddenly he was dropped onto a soft surface. With a jolt he opened his eyes. He was in a bedroom, and even if Edge hadn’t been the one to bring him here it wouldn’t have been hard to figure out whose it was. The décor matched Edge’s style perfectly; dark colors and everything was rather simple in design.  
  
“We’ll have to make this kind of quick because I have duties I need to attend to,” Edge said. “But have no fear, in the evenings we can spend as much time together as you need.” He was already undoing his belt buckle.  
  
“Nah, that’s okay,” Stretch said, scrambling backwards on the bed until he reached the head and had no more room to retreat. “You can go do your duties now, I can wait ‘till… evening.” He’d do anything to put this off just a little bit more because he _couldn’t_ do this again, this was supposed to be _over_. It wasn’t fair.  
  
“Nonsense.” Edge scoffed. “You’re shivering more than ever, I need to take care of you and I have nothing pressing to do right now, it can all wait a little bit. Now, take off your pants and summon your magic.”  
  
Stretch was already crying and it hadn’t even begun yet. It wasn’t fair, it was _supposed_ to be over by now! He couldn’t do this.  
  
With an annoyed sigh Edge moved to the bed and grabbed Stretch’s ankle to pull him closer and then undo his pants and pull them off. Stretch’s first instinct was to resist but he stopped himself. It would’ve only annoyed Edge more, which was the last thing he wanted to do.  
  
“I suppose your new surroundings are making you nervous,” Edge said in an imperious tone. “That is to be expected; you are only a rabbit after all. But I’ll take care of you until you get used to it, don’t worry. Now, your magic please.” He’d already summoned his own and stroked it with his hand until it was fully erect.  
  
With a pathetic whimper and more tears, Stretch forced his magic to form into a pussy. What other option did he have here? And it’s not like he hadn’t gone through this before, so it was nothing new, just the surroundings were.  
  
“Much better.” Edge nodded his approval as he positioned himself over Stretch, pushing his legs apart. He lined up and thrust in, making Stretch yelp with pain as his dry magic was forced to stretch around Edge’s girth. He hadn’t been prepared this time, making it painful again.  
  
Edge didn’t care though as he fucked him, fast and rough as was usual. And shamefully Stretch’s magic was already reacting, getting wetter each time Edge’s cock filled him. Making the sounds coming out of his mouth a mix of pain, pleasure, and sobbing. There was nothing he could do about it though except lie there and take it. So, he closed his eyes so he wouldn’t have to see Edge’s face at least, and wrapped his legs around Edge’s waist, making the angle of this thrusts more pleasurable.  
  
The bed rocked and creaked under them, but it wasn’t as loud nor as much as Stretch’s bed because it was larger and sturdier. He hated it. It made the sounds he and Edge were making seem louder. And the sounds he was making sounded more and more like moans of pleasure instead of sobs of pain.  
  
“I-I don’t… want this,” he said before weighing the potential consequences of saying such a thing. He could be really stupid sometimes.  
  
Edge paused in this thrusting for maybe a second or two before picking it back up, pounding into him harder and faster. “Nonsense.” He sounded angry and annoyed, neither of which were good. “Don’t believe the lies those idiots are trying to spread. My brother’s just jealous. You’re my mate and I’m not going to let anyone take you away from me, so don’t worry about my brother’s idiocy.”  
  
Stretch whimpered, grateful that Edge’s anger at least wasn’t directed towards him. What more could he ask for when he’d been stupid enough to say something like that? Thankfully, the increased pace had his climax rapidly approaching.  
  
When it hit a short time later his mind went blessedly blank for a few wonderful seconds as waves of pleasure rolled through him. But then he felt the knot set in place inside him followed by the familiar gush of cum against the walls of his magic. He let out another sob as he shifted underneath Edge. Why’d that have to start feeling good too?  
  
Edge switched to supporting himself with one arm so he could pet Stretch’s head and ears with the other. Strangely enough, despite his usual unneeded roughness about it and the horrid situation he was in, it was a little soothing. It felt nice with no pain or misery immediately attached to it, which was about the best that could be hoped for here.  
  
“There, see? You feel much better,” Edge said as Stretch’s sobs started to peter out. He of course took no note of Stretch’s lack of a reply. Why would he when he never took any note of anything Stretch wanted?  
  
By the time the knot softened, Stretch’s tears had slowed to a trickle. With a contented sigh, Edge pulled out, allowing cum to ooze out of Stretch’s pussy. He dispelled his magic and stood to readjust his pants.  
  
“We done?” Stretch asked in a pathetic, hopeful whisper.  
  
“Yes, for now. I’ll clean you up now and then must head off to work.”  
  
Stretch shuddered with relief as he dispelled his magic. Edge’s cum landed on his pelvis, disgustedly warm and wet but it didn’t bother him nearly as much as it used to. He didn’t even have the capacity to care much anymore.  
  
Edge used a wet cloth that was already in the room, being a bit rougher than he really needed to be. “There,” Edge said as Stretch pulled his pants back on. “I’ll take care of you more later this evening when I’m done with work. And I’ll check up on you later to see how you’re settling in.” He paused. “There will be consequences if you’re not here when I get back.”  
  
Did Stretch dare ask what he meant by ‘consequences’? Would he hurt Blueberry? Probably, since he couldn’t hurt Stretch without hurting the kits too and he seemed to think Blueberry had done something to him to make him unhappy. But before he could decide one way or the other if he really wanted to know, Edge was heading out the door. There was a sound of a key turning in a lock seconds after Edge closed the door; he was locking Stretch in. Not that he would’ve tried to leave anyway.  
  
***  
  
Red hid inside his room until he was sure Edge had left to go on patrol, or whatever else he had to do for the Royal Guard. Thank stars he wasn’t as idle as Red and couldn’t hang around the house all day even if he wanted to. Red only wished he couldn’t hear what went on in the next room almost as well as Edge leaving the house. But he’d had to keep listening if he didn’t want to risk missing his chance to rescue Stretch.  
  
When a couple minutes had passed since he heard Edge leave the house, he teleported to the hall outside his brother’s door and knocked lightly on it. He was probably being paranoid, but if Edge had played some elaborate trick to make it seem like he’d left but was actually still in there, knocking would be a lot easier to explain than teleporting in unannounced. There was no answer, and even with his ear pressed to the door he couldn’t hear anything moving inside the room. He tried the handle, but not surprisingly, it was locked.  
  
Swallowing down his apprehension of what he might find, he teleported inside. Nothing looked immediately out-of-place, except that the bed was unmade, and on closer inspection, the piled-up blanket in the corner was shivering. “Psst. Carrots,” he whispered at it. “Come on. I’m gonna take you back to your bro.”  
  
“Y-you can’t, he said—he said there would be consequences if I go missing.” Stretch’s skull appeared from under the blanket, flushed and tear-streaked.  
  
“Don’t worry about that. He won’t do anything to me.”  
  
“But Sans—”  
  
“Blueberry isn’t here. This is all me, so why would Blue get punished for my actions?”  
  
“You just said he won’t do anything to you. So he’d have to use Blue to—”  
  
“Lemme rephrase that. He won’t do anything irreversible to me.”  
  
Stretch thought about it, his gaze focused on the large crack extending from Red’s eye socket up toward his ear. “Okay,” he said finally. “I don’t like the risk you’re taking, but I—I’ll die if I stay here, I’ll Fall Down.”  
  
“Yeah. Get out of that blanket and let’s go.” Red didn’t want to risk the blanket getting dragged along with them. He waited as Stretch shakily extricated himself from it, then held out his hand. Stretch took it, and he teleported them to the lab. After firing up the portal as quickly as possible, he took Stretch’s hand again to lead him through, and as soon as their feet were firmly on the bunny-side floor, he teleported them both to the living room.  
  
Thankfully, Blueberry was there, or else he would have had to call him up. It looked like he’d been curled up on the couch, crying, but he stood up as he saw them. His movements were feebler than usual—the past couple days must have taken a large toll on him.  
  
“Here you go, Blue. No time for long goodbyes, I—wait, you’re hurt.”  
  
“Papyyyy!” Blue ignored him, throwing himself at his brother. Stretch flinched. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean—I forgot about the kits. Are you okay? Did he—did he do anything to you?”  
  
Stretch grimaced and looked away. “I’m fine now that I’m back here,” he said, but his voice was flat and robotic.  
  
“Blue, are you okay?” Red tugged at the smaller bunny’s shoulder, insistent. “What happened?”  
  
“Oh. Red! Thank you so much—”  
  
Blue turned to hug the fox too, but Red held him back, interrupting him. “You’re limping. What happened?”  
  
“Oh.” Blue sounded guilty. “I just—Edge kind of—kicked me, and—I just need a good meal to heal it up, but I was too upset about Papy and I couldn’t—I know I should have taken care of it better, if only because Papy needs me at my best.”  
  
“He kicked you?” Red snarled. “I’m gonna—”  
  
Blue pulled at his arm, trying to calm him. “It wasn’t really—I don’t think—” Red could tell his first instinct was to smooth things over between Red and his brother, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to defend Edge.  
  
“All right,” he said, running a hand over the crack in his skull and back across his ear. “I hate to leave you like this but I gotta go sabotage the machine before Boss finds out Carrots is gone.”  
  
“Okay. Thank you, Red. I’m gonna miss you so much.” Blue clung to him, and Red lifted the bunny up to clink their teeth together, setting him down carefully afterward—he wasn’t sure exactly how badly Blue was injured. Then he teleported back to the lab before their goodbye could get drawn out any longer.  
  
It was just as well he had a pressing task to focus on, he thought as he went back through the portal and shut down the machine. The urgency would stop him moping over being separated from Blueberry, at least for the time being. And feeling kinda numb from all the drama with Blue might sorta help him not panic about the machine. He needed to stay calm and do this efficiently.  
  
After gathering some tools, he sat down and removed an access panel. He wasn’t so lazy that he hadn’t given any thought to how he was going to do this—it had to be something Edge couldn’t fix, or even really understand, despite his proficiency with mechanical traps, and it would be preferable if it were something that really could just break on its own from repeated use, and nothing too hard to fix or replace if and when he eventually felt safe restoring the machine. Ideally it would be something Alphys couldn’t fix or diagnose either, just in case Edge asked her to look at it. Flicking his tail thoughtfully, he leaned over and reached inside the machine, sticking his entire skull inside so he could see what he was doing. It was dark inside; he should go find a little flashlight, he thought, when the lab door slammed open.  
  
He grabbed at a random circuit board, anything to stop the machine from working right this moment. He would tell Edge that he’d been going to visit Blueberry when he’d found it broken, and was trying to fix it right now.  
  
Edge grabbed his tail near the base and pulled him out. He lost his grip on the circuit board; it was fixed too firmly in place. “Hi Boss,” he chuckled nervously, hanging upside down from his tail.  
  
“What are you doing?” Edge demanded.  
  
“Uh … routine maintenance?”  
  
“It’s not part of any routine you’ve ever kept up before.”  
  
“First time for everything,” Red shrugged. “What’re you doing home so early? It’s not even lunchtime yet.”  
  
“I came to check on my mate, of course. It’s his first day staying here.”  
  
Had Edge realized Stretch was gone? He seemed pretty angry, but perhaps not quite THAT angry. “Oh, r-right. How—how is that goin’?”  
  
“Fine. He will need some time to settle in. He is a sensitive rabbit.”  
  
“M-maybe you should just let him sleep until lunch then.”  
  
“Nonsense. He has had plenty of sleep.”  
  
“Y-yeah, okay. Um, Boss, could ya—maybe put me down?”  
  
“Not until you tell me what you were actually—” Edge’s ears stood up and his eye lights shrank. “No. You wouldn’t. Sans. My room, now.”  
  
“Whatever you say, Boss,” Red said, trying to disappear inside his fluffy jacket, and teleported as ordered.  
  
***  
  
Blueberry got Stretch settled on the couch with a blanket and the TV on for distraction, and then went into the kitchen to try and salvage his tacos. He kept up a stream of commentary even though Stretch didn’t answer. “Are you hungry, Papy? I know sometimes when things are—upsetting—you just don’t have any appetite. But I feel so much better now that you’re back, and—nobody from the fox dimension is gonna be able to come through again until Red and I let them—so you don’t have to worry anymore. Everything is all right now. You should try and eat something, remember you still gotta feed the kits too! And of course you need your own magic replenished because—”  
  
He broke off mid-sentence as he carried a plate out to the couch for Stretch. His brother was nowhere to be seen.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red keeps trying to fix things, but it never goes according to plan.  
> Edge looks for Stretch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a drop of blood in this chapter.  
> -wolfbunny

“Where is he?” Edge asked, more testing than demanding. At least he had put Red down, though he was keeping a hand on his shoulder to stop him teleporting away.  
  
“I dunno, Boss.” Red feigned nonchalance. “Check under the bed? He’s pretty small.”  
  
Edge knelt down, shoving Red’s face into the carpet. “Do you see him under there?”  
  
Red pulled himself forward until Edge’s hand was on his back instead of his skull, so that he could lift it and actually look. Even though he knew Stretch wouldn’t be there. “No, Boss. Just dust bunnies.”  
  
Edge growled, whether because he considered that a pun or he was insulted at the suggestion he would allow dust to accrue in his room. He pulled Red back up, grabbed the collar of his sweater and lifted him into the air so that their faces were level. “Where. Is. He?” he asked again, low and menacing.  
  
“Why d’you assume I would know, Boss?” Red kept playing innocent, buying time. The machine was still functional and the rabbits didn’t know. He had to come up with some way to either break it or warn them.  
  
“The door is locked.” Edge jiggled the knob to demonstrate. “Carrots can’t teleport in his condition.”  
  
“Maybe he could if he just really, really wanted to?” Red managed to keep his ears straight but his tail was curled tightly between his legs.  
  
“He wouldn’t risk hurting our kits!”  
  
Red wasn’t so sure Stretch would prioritize the kits over himself, but he just shrugged.  
  
“All right, Sans. I never expected such treachery from you. I trusted you to stay home with my mate and do the bare minimum of not kidnapping him. But if you won’t confess—it isn’t as if it weren’t obvious what you’ve done. You sent him back to the rabbit world, and you were trying to prevent me from going to fetch him again. Are you really so jealous? You know you could have just asked him to be your mate before he asked me, instead of Blue?”  
  
“He didn’t ask you!” Red bristled at the various inaccuracies in Edge’s accusation. How could he see right through Red’s plan and yet be completely wrong about everything else? “And I never—”  
  
“You’re just digging yourself deeper, Sans. Come on, you’re going to undo whatever you did to the machine so that I can go get my mate back.”  
  
Red froze, careful to keep the hope off his face. If Edge thought the machine was already sabotaged, maybe he’d be able to break it for real under the guise of fixing it.  
  
“Take us back to the lab,” Edge ordered.  
  
“No.” Red didn’t want to seem too eager.  
  
Edge dropped him on the bed on his back, hand on his shoulder again. Red felt a jolt of panic at finding himself in roughly the same position Carrots had been in so recently.  
  
“Is there a reason you can’t take us back to the lab, or are you just being difficult?” Edge growled.  
  
“I’m not gonna help you get Carrots back.” Red couldn’t completely eliminate the tremor from his voice.  
  
“Yes, you are. You made this mess, and now you are going to make amends.”  
  
Red shuddered. Edge was right—he’d made this mess by getting Stretch into this situation, even if he’d just been trying to save his life. And now he was going to make amends by doing his damnedest to help Stretch escape it.  
  
Interpreting Red’s silence as uncooperative, Edge summoned a sharpened bone construct.  
  
Red’s eye lights shrank. “Boss, come on. You wouldn’t.”   
  
“Hold still. I don’t want to dust you.”  
  
Red yelped more from fear than pain as the bone pierced his ear, lodging in the mattress beneath.  
  
“Now will you cooperate or do you want to find out what a fox looks like with no ears?”  
  
“I’ll do it, I’ll do it, please stop!”  
  
Edge pulled him up off the bed, without dispelling the bone attack, which ripped free from his ear. Great, another notch. Everyone around here had notched up ears, except little kids and total cowards—but too many started to make you look weak.  
  
“To the lab,” Edge growled.  
  
Red transported them there without hesitating. Satisfied with his obedience, Edge let go of him. Red stayed huddled next to his brother, soul churning at the thought of what Edge would do when he realized Red wasn’t going to fix the machine. And what he had to do now, actually break it, felt like signing his own death warrant.  
  
“Go on,” said Edge, nudging him with his boot.  
  
“Okay, Boss, just—I kinda panicked when you came in and pulled things out willy-nilly, so it might take a while to get it in working order again.”  
  
“You have two hours. If you haven’t finished by lunchtime I—Wait.” Edge stalked over to the machine, where the access panel was still open. He glanced across the tools scattered nearby, then leaned over to look inside. “It doesn’t look all that bad to me,” he said. “In fact …” He went to the control panel and turned the machine on.  
  
“Wait, Boss, don’t! It could—” Red started to protest.  
  
“Start up normally,” Edge observed. “It doesn’t seem like your sabotage was very effective.”  
  
“I—I didn’t—” Red summoned a blaster. If this was the only way to break the machine—  
  
Closing the distance between them with a single step, Edge slapped him, breaking his concentration. “Come on. You’re going to apologize to Carrots, AND to Blueberry, for filling their minds with trash.”  
  
“No—no, I’m not!” Red pressed his hand to his cheekbone, hating himself for losing focus just because his brother hit him—his baby brother, how could he have grown up to do all these terrible things? He could still try to delay Edge, and if Edge didn’t take the bait, he could give Blue a few more seconds’ warning. He tried to teleport at the same moment as his soul turned blue, pulling him to the floor with a strangled yelp.  
  
“Yes, you are.” Edge grabbed him by the injured ear, and Red was afraid the tear would lengthen as he was pulled to the portal. He grabbed at Edge’s hand and tried to pull it off, at an angle that wouldn’t aggravate the fresh wound so much. Edge didn’t seem to notice. It took him longer to call up the portal than it would have Red, but he was able to do it. At least he let go of Red’s soul while he was concentrating. He dragged his brother through to the other side.  
  
“Living room,” said Edge, still holding Red by the ear. Red whimpered but complied.  
  
***  
  
Blueberry stopped himself sending another text. If Stretch hadn’t answered his last fifty texts, he wasn’t going to answer this one. He re-read the note: “sorry sans i just don’t feel safe here even with the portal closed. don’t come after me, will text you later.”  
  
He hugged it to his chest, curled up on the couch. It made sense that Stretch would need some time alone, and it even made sense for him not to want to be in the house. His room was his sanctuary, but Edge had done terrible things to him in there. He knew that Red, at least, was likely to visit again sooner or later, and maybe he didn’t want to see any fox for a while, if ever again, or maybe he blamed Red for what had happened but he didn’t want Blue to have to break up with Red or maybe, most likely, he blamed Blue for not protecting him and that was why he’d left without him and why couldn’t he even have told Blue where he was GOING? Blue curled up tighter on himself, sobbing. He still hurt from Edge’s kick—he had completely forgotten about eating and healing when he’d realized Stretch was gone—but it didn’t even compare to the pain lancing through his soul at being left behind by his brother, and knowing he deserved it after failing him so badly.  
  
He heard the sound of a teleport and looked up, hope flooding his soul even as he remembered that Stretch couldn’t teleport, with the kits draining so much of his magic. So it must be Red, which was welcome, but it couldn’t be Red, because he’d have deactivated the portal on their side by now—   
  
It was Red, and Edge was with him, holding onto his ear, just short of lifting him off the ground by it as he winced in pain. Was that a new notch? Blue had memorized all the little rips and tears on Red’s ears by now, and the little kink in his tail that you couldn’t see but could feel if you ran your hand along it, where he said it had been broken once. That notch was definitely new; it was even still bleeding, a bead of red magic clinging to it.  
  
“Red, what—?” He sat up and slipped off the couch, took a step toward Red, then remembered Edge was there too and stopped, keeping his distance.  
  
“Where is my mate?” Edge snapped. “Sans, let’s try his room.”  
  
“Wait!” said Blue. “He’s not there.”  
  
Red looked alarmed, Edge merely annoyed. “Where is he then?”  
  
“He’s—gone. I don’t know where he is.”  
  
Red’s eye sockets widened even further for a moment, before he glanced purposefully at his brother and then tried to yank his ear free. Edge didn’t even seem affected as Red pulled, bracing himself with both arms and one foot against Edge’s ribs and leg.  
  
“What do you have? Let me see that.” Edge stepped forward and snatched the note from Blueberry, still pulling Red around by the ear. “He’s run away? Sans, what did you do to upset him so much?”  
  
Blueberry opened his mouth to tell Edge who it was who’d upset Stretch, but he was momentarily too outraged to speak.  
  
“Sans, come on. We’re going to find him.”  
  
“No!” Red finally wrenched his ear loose, a drop of blood spattering on the carpet. “I won’t help you find him.”  
  
“You will,” Edge said, oozing confidence. “If you want your bunny back in one piece.”  
  
He dropped the note, and Blue’s first instinct was to catch it before it fluttered to the ground—that was his link to Stretch, it shouldn’t just be tossed on the floor. But maybe that was the aim of Edge’s strategy; the fox grabbed Blueberry instead as he dove for it, lifting him painfully by one arm.  
  
“Boss, you said—” Red started, then hardened his expression. “What do I care? You’re the one who said I was jealous of Stretch, right?”  
  
Edge shrugged. “If you won’t help me, at least I won’t have to search on an empty stomach.” He switched to a two-handed hold around Blue’s rib cage, pressing his arms to his sides.  
  
“What?” said Red. Blue froze, then twisted and kicked to free himself, but had to give up when it aggravated his injury, pain spiking through his ribs and hip. He saw Edge’s mouth open wide in front of him, the red magic of the tongue and throat reminiscent of his brother’s, but smaller. It looked like a tight fit, but if he’d gotten Stretch through there, Blueberry would be no problem. He resumed squirming and kicking, without any strategy, just a survival instinct when faced with the maw of a large predator moving closer and closer—but before the tongue pressed against his face, he heard an odd whine, like something charging up, and Edge stopped.  
  
“Sure, blast me if you want. You’ll catch him too, but maybe he’ll survive, and I’m sure he won’t mind that you blew a hole in his house.”  
  
Blue couldn’t look away from Edge’s mouth, watching his teeth as he spoke, but he heard Red snarl in frustration, and some of the tension left the air. Edge devoted his full attention to Blue again, picking up where he’d left off, and it was only a second before Blue found his skull pressed into the magic of Edge’s throat. He kicked frantically, even though it hurt, but it did nothing to stop Edge pushing him deeper between his jaws, his magic enveloping the bunny’s skull and pulling him even further as he gulped. Blue could faintly hear Red’s voice, could make out the protesting, pleading tones, but not the words. This was so much worse than what Red did to him, even the last time when Red had done it against his will, and not only because the magic compressing around him from every direction squeezed his injuries painfully as his whole body was enveloped. It was all too much, and he blacked out before he reached Edge’s stomach.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Stretch's sufferings never end?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not quite done grinding this poor bunny into the dirt. But for everyone clamoring for Edge's blood, I bring you a little present: [Alternate ending where Edge dies](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13807413)
> 
> Hopefully the main ending won't be totally unsatisfying either :3
> 
> -wolfbunny

At first Stretch had despaired at the thought of walking all the way to Undyne’s, but it wasn’t really so bad. He walked through Snowdin, self-conscious about his belly but telling himself that the kits were nowhere near big enough to be noticeable when he was fully clothed. Fortunately he didn’t meet anyone until the Riverperson, who didn’t oblige him to make any small talk on the way to Hotland. After that, it was a short, if uncomfortably hot, walk to Undyne’s lab.  
  
“How’s my favorite Jorunna parva?” he asked when she answered the door.  
  
She stared at him, alarmed. Her eyes, if indeed she had any, were still invisible, but it was apparent in the angle of her head, the bristling of her abundant, speckled white fur, and the way her black ears stood straight up. That was understandable; he had shown up unannounced. “You’d better come in and sit down,” she said.  
  
He followed and sat in the only chair not covered in clutter, anime paused on the screen in front of it.  
  
“You’re here for a check-up, right?” Undyne said. “Is it okay if—would you mind showing me the kits?”  
  
“Not exactly, but sure,” he said. It was a reasonable assumption. He’d been here with Blueberry a couple of times for just that reason. He pulled up the edge of his hoodie so she could see the souls inside.  
  
“Hmm,” she said, leaning down to peer in at them.  
  
“Is something wrong?” He’d found the soullings to be primarily an annoyance, but his soul jumped at the thought of harm coming to them.  
  
“No—no, I don’t think so. I kind of expected them to be a bit further along by now, but—but they’re half fox, right? So they will probably take a little longer. Besides, there’s—look, you can see little bits of bone where their skulls and spines are starting to form.”  
  
Stretch looked, but couldn’t make out anything through the ecto-plasm; it had grown murkier as the soullings developed. But if Undyne said they were forming bones, he believed her.  
  
“Have you been—do you have any complaints? Nausea, fatigue?”  
  
“Well—yeah, but…” He could easily blame those on just being around Edge all the time.  
  
“That’s—that’s normal.” She straightened up. “Let me just—check your magic levels.” She shuffled off to fetch a scanner, came back, pointed it at him, hmmed over the display. Stretch tried not to let this worry him. She reached up and felt his ears, looked inside them, hmmed again and wandered off to replace the scanner.  
  
“Give it to me straight, doc. How long do I have left?” he joked.  
  
“Huh? You’re fine. Or did you mean until the kits are born? I think it’ll be at least another month. It’s hard to say, because they’re hybrids.”  
  
Stretch’s ears drooped. He would have liked to get it over with, but he wasn’t looking forward to birthing them, either.  
  
“Your, uh, friends are already here to pick you up,” said Undyne, moving things around as if to tidy the table but not accomplishing anything more than rearranging the clutter.  
  
“What? Who?”  
  
“Your brother and—your fox friends.”  
  
Stretch stood up to leave, but she had already opened the door to the next room. He thought about making a run for it. Was it better to let Edge catch him here, or make him chase him a few yards through Hotland? He had no hope of outrunning the fox without teleporting. Perhaps if he stayed here and accepted his fate, nothing would happen to freak out Undyne. Or perhaps he was just giving up. He still took a couple steps backward toward the door as Edge emerged, followed by Red, who was carrying Blue.  
  
“Papy!” Blue squirmed out of Red’s arms and ran to him. “Why didn’t you tell me where you were going?”  
  
“I’m sorry, Sans.” He knelt down to lay a hand on his brother’s skull. It was coated with a thin layer of red magic, like it was after he’d just been doing kinky things with Red. He frowned. “I figured you couldn’t tell anyone what you didn’t know.” He kept his voice low.  
  
“I would’ve come with you,” Blue whimpered, burying his face in Stretch’s hoodie.  
  
“What—what happened?”  
  
“I don’t—Edge came back and—” Blue sobbed into the fabric.  
  
“Whose magic is this?” Stretch ran a phalange across Blue’s skull and down one ear.  
  
Blue didn’t answer. Stretch looked up at Red, who looked away guiltily. He couldn’t imagine why Red would have swallowed Blue in such a situation—unless it was to keep him safe from Edge—or maybe—maybe it was Edge’s magic, and not Red’s. They were almost exactly the same color. He didn’t hide the betrayal on his face as he finally met the taller fox’s eyes.  
  
Edge was calm. “What are you doing here, Carrots?”  
  
“I—I wasn’t feeling well, so I asked Red to help me come get checked out.”  
  
Edge glanced sideways at Red. “I do have a phone, you know. If it were an actual emergency, the least you could do is tell me what’s going on.”  
  
“Papyrus, you didn’t tell me that you—!” started Undyne, and then shut up when Stretch glared at her.  
  
Edge pinned the bunny with his cool gaze. “Besides, if you had waited just an hour or so, I would have come to check on you. Do you know how worried we all were? Not just me but Blue and even Red. You just suddenly disappeared, after Red left you at your house.”  
  
Stretch held his brother closer. He’d left a note, but if Edge hadn’t seen it he didn’t want to bring it up.  
  
“I suppose it’s safer walking around in public in a vulnerable state here than it is where I’m from,” Edge continued. “But I wish you’d let us take care of you.”  
  
Stretch found himself relaxing a little. Edge shouldn’t have been here in the first place—that he was meant Red had failed again—but at least he didn’t seem nearly as angry as Stretch might have expected.  
  
“Come on, let’s get you home.” Edge strode toward him. Stretch tensed up, squeezing his brother tighter.  
  
“Ngh—Papy,” Blue protested.  
  
“Sans, you haven’t been healed?” Stretch looked up at Undyne for help.  
  
“It’s—it’s nothing, I should have taken care of it.”  
  
“What happened?” Undyne took a step closer.  
  
“N-nothing!” Blue shot a fearful glance at Edge.  
  
“Stay here and get healed if you want.” Edge snagged Blue’s bandanna and pulled him out of Stretch’s arms, handing him to Undyne. “Red? I think we can spare the rabbit populace some alarm if you teleport us back.” He gathered Stretch into one arm and held the other out toward his brother.  
  
The downtrodden smaller fox looked away as he took Edge’s hand, and in a moment the three of them found themselves in the bunnies’ living room, Blue having been left behind with Undyne. Blue would be fine, Stretch told himself. Undyne would have some method of healing him up, and maybe if Blue told her something about their situation with the foxes, she’d have an idea about how to stop interdimensional travel. Maybe. It was enough hope for him to stop himself from hyperventilating, for the moment.  
  
“See, Carrots, you’re shivering again already and we just left Hotland.” Edge held him close, which just made the shivering worse. “Let’s get you home and I can take care of you again.”  
  
“N-no! I’m really not cold—really!”  
  
“Nonsense. You’re shivering and tense. Don’t lie to me.” Edge turned to Red. “Sans, I still haven’t forgiven you for what you did today. Perhaps you had better make yourself scarce for a while.” Then he turned and carried Stretch outside, heading for the lab.  
  
Stretch clung to him because there was nothing else to cling to, closing his eyes on the familiar journey through the portal, up the stairs, and into Edge’s room. He really wanted to ask Red and Blue what had happened in his absence. But if he wasn’t allowed to see them—maybe talking to Edge would distract him from ‘relaxing’ and ‘warming up’ Stretch.  
  
“What happened while I was gone?” he asked, not entirely succeeding at keeping the tremor out of his voice.  
  
“I could ask you the same thing,” said Edge, depositing him on the bed. “But very well. Red tried to stop me from coming to find you, so I put him in his place and made him help me look for you. I’m afraid I may have been a little rough on Blue, but he was never in any real danger.”  
  
Stretch shuddered to think what Edge meant by that.  
  
“In light of their recent behavior, I cannot allow you to go visit your brother without me.” Edge shook his head in disappointment. “And since it’s clear now that I can’t even trust my own brother … Wait here. I have a small present for you.”  
  
Edge left the room, and Stretch huddled where he was, trying to stop trembling and relax his bones, so that Edge might conclude he didn’t need warming up or help relaxing. It was a losing battle, even if he closed his eyes and tried to forget where he was. There was no place he could imagine being where he would have felt safe from Edge.  
  
The fox came back, and Stretch kept his eye sockets shut, to delay seeing him again, until Edge ordered, “Look.”  
  
He was holding a red canvas collar attached to a dull silver chain. Stretch’s soul sank.  
  
“This will stop Red kidnapping you again,” Edge explained, buckling the color around Stretch’s neck. “There’s a little magic in the buckle, so that only the monster that fastened it can unfasten it. And for this end—” He threaded the other end of the chain through the bed frame. “A conventional lock will have to do.” He clanked the lock shut through two of the links.  
  
“Wh-where’s the key?” Stretch ventured.  
  
“Don’t you worry about that,” said Edge. “When we need to go somewhere, I’ll just take the collar off. Unless you want to show it off to everyone?”  
  
Stretch lowered his skull.  
  
“You’re safe now.” Edge stroked his skull and ears. “Red has no secrets from me. I know he can’t teleport you out of the collar, and he can’t teleport the entire bed along with you.”  
  
Stretch nodded, a sob escaping his clenched teeth.  
  
“Poor bunny. You must have been traumatized. I really don’t know what’s gotten into our brothers lately. Come on, I’ll help you relax, and then I’ll bring you lunch.”  
  
Stretch instinctively shrank back as Edge closed in on him. “Uh… can ya get me lunch first instead? I’m starving.” That would only be putting it off, but he wasn’t ready for this yet after the last time being just this morning. He never would be ready but that didn’t matter to Edge. And he _was_ hungry because of the kits. To emphasize that he put a hand over his middle, hoping Edge would take note; he cared about the kits’ wellbeing, right?  
  
Edge studied him and for a few brief moments it seemed almost like he’d grant Stretch mercy for once. But of course it was not to be. “No, you’re cold and it’s still a little bit early for lunch. Now come here.” He picked Stretch up to move him closer to the edge of the bed next him. “This should make you feel less hungry anyway.” This again of course, and there was nothing Stretch could do about it.  
  
Edge stood and undid his pants to summon his magic into his hand. He stroked it until it was fully erect and put it in Stretch’s face. With a shudder, Stretch summoned the magic in his mouth and opened up to take it in.  
  
This time Edge didn’t even wait for him to try to do it on his own before he thrust all the way in. Stretch swallowed around it, his throat and jaw almost _used_ to the intrusion by now. So, he gripped onto Edge’s legs and let him have his way.  
  
“See?” Edge pressed a hand to the back of Stretch’s skull, holding him steady as he fucked his mouth more roughly than he really needed to. “You’re doing better already.” He was no doubt referring to Stretch having gone as limp as it was possible to get while still sitting up.  
  
He moaned around Edge’s dick as it pushed into his throat again, hoping to make it feel better so this would end faster. Apparently, it worked, as Edge let out a noisy breath of pleasure. So, Stretch kept doing it as tears leaked down his face until Edge pushed all the way in, knotting. Stretch again choked at first on the gush of cum but caught himself quickly and started swallowing it.  
  
Edge pet his head, pressing his ears to his skull. If that was the only comfort Stretch was allowed to have, he’d take it. He let himself focus on it as he kept swallowing, far too used to the taste of Edge’s magic by now.  
  
By the time the knot softened and Edge pulled out he couldn’t deny that Edge was right about one thing; swallowing all that magic had made him less hungry. Whether or not it was healthy and good for the kits was impossible to say, but he didn’t care. Even if it was the best thing for them and himself, he still wouldn’t want to do it ever again. He wasn’t going to be given a choice, though.  
  
“Now lie down,” Edge said.  
  
Stretch complied, more letting himself collapse backwards than lying down, but it achieved the same effect. He closed his eyes and pressed the heels of his hands to them as Edge removed his pants. Wanting this to be over with as soon as possible, he summoned his magic all on his own before Edge could tell him to.  
  
“Good,” Edge said as if praising an obedient pet. He pushed Stretch’s legs apart and seconds later his tongue was pressing against his stupidly sensitive clit, pulling a moan out of Stretch’s mouth. He didn’t bother trying to muffle it because who even cared? If Red was in the house he’d know what was going on anyway and Blueberry should still be with Undyne back in their nice, friendly, not-fucked-up, rabbit world.  
  
No matter how distressed he was, his body was still overly sensitive because of his pregnancy. As a result, Edge’s tongue brought him to an all-too-quick, all-too-intense orgasm. He moaned, lifting his hips up into Edge’s face as his tongue helped him ride it out.  
  
“We done?” he said as his body relaxed. He kept his hands pressed to his eyes, not caring to look at anything right now and unmindful of the tears leaking from them and onto his hands.  
  
Edge sighed, annoyed. “Why are you always asking that?”  
  
Stretch finally moved his hands to look at him. “Because I want us to be done. I want lunch.” He wanted to be left alone and never bothered again.  
  
Edge sighed again but it sounded much more good-natured now. “Of course, the kits.” He slid a hand under Stretch’s shirt to caress his middle, making him shudder. “I will feed you properly soon; you must have patience.”  
  
Stretch groaned as Edge moved him to lie more properly on the bed, his legs still spread.  
  
“Don’t be a baby about it,” Edge said, already summoning his own magic again and lining up with Stretch’s. He thrust in and Stretch sobbed, unable to do anything else. Edge didn’t even acknowledge it as he set his usual pace of being a bit rougher than he really needed to be. It felt good though, there was that. Though that made it worse in a way; no part of Stretch should be enjoying this. It needed to end soon.  
  
“F-faster,” he said between half moans half sobs as he balled his hands into fist in the blanket beneath him. If Edge fucked him faster he’d finish quicker, right? “Go faster.”  
  
Edge paused for a half a second before a grin splayed across his face. He started thrusting harder, almost as hard as he had that first night though not quite.  
  
Stretch panted, clenching his eyes shut as more sounds escaped his mouth, the bed rocking and creaking beneath them. Why had he done that? He was only encouraging Edge more. But… it felt good and his own orgasm was building quicker. “Faster,” he said, holding back another sob.  
  
Edge was panting some too, his face flushed with arousal. “I would… but I don’t want to… hurt the kits,” he said between his own louder noises of pleasure. “After they’re born though… we can go as fast and… as hard as you want.”  
  
Would he really be stuck here with Edge that long? _Every_ attempt he, Red, and Blueberry had made to end this wretched situation had failed _completely,_ so… probably. He’d be stuck as Edge’s mate until he inevitably Fell Down. How long would that take? … Hopefully long enough for the kits to be born; he didn’t want them to die with him.  
  
Thankfully the thought was soon washed away by an intense burst of pleasure. A few more thrusts and Edge was climaxing too, suddenly still as the knot set in and warmth flooded into Stretch’s magic, making him moan again even as he panted and cried.  
  
Even Edge was out of breath a little. “That was good, you’re getting more comfortable here already.” He started stroking Stretch’s skull again, uncaring of how Stretch was breaking down into gross sobbing. “You’re okay, you did good, there’s no need to cry.” He sounded almost contemptuous of Stretch’s tears as if he thought they were silly and nonsensical.  
  
Stretch whimpered, hating himself as he let himself take what little comfort he could in the petting. It wasn’t much and this would be over soon; the knot would soften and then Edge would clean him up and then leave to make lunch. But then… he’d probably want to go again tonight before bed. And there was _nothing_ Stretch could do about it when he was literally chained to the bed. So, really it wasn’t almost over at all but just beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hang in there just a little longer, Stretch ;w;


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red and Blue are definitely going to do something about this... eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I may have promised Stretch that things would be different this chapter, but--sorry :3 He has to hold on one more chapter. Next time, I swear.  
> -wolfbunny

After Edge left with Stretch, Red paced around Blueberry’s living room for two laps, which was pretty energetic for him, before hunching in a miserable lump next to the sofa, trying not to take up space. Edge had told him to make himself scarce, so he didn’t want to—couldn’t—go check on Stretch’s situation. Guilt gnawed at him. Was he leaving Stretch to suffer because he was too scared—too cowardly to face his brother? Because he’d made a notch in his ear? He could honestly say that was farther than he’d expected Edge to take things. Maybe he hadn’t known his little brother as well as he’d thought. Or perhaps it had all snowballed from Edge eating Stretch in the beginning, which had been, well, not okay, but completely understandable—they were a fox and a rabbit, after all.  
  
He flinched as the door opened and closed. “Red, you’re here! Where’s Papy?” Blue trotted over to him, not limping at all.  
  
“Edge took him back with him.” Red folded his ears and tried to pull his skull inside his jacket.  
  
“Why didn’t you come back and get me? Straighten your ear. Let me see it.”  
  
“It’s fine. What about you though?”  
  
“I’m fine. Undyne fixed me up. And she could have fixed up your ear if you’d come back.”  
  
“Nah, it’s—it’s just gonna stay like that.” Red shrank even further under Blue’s scolding tone.  
  
“But doesn’t it hurt?”  
  
“Not so much anymore.” Red wanted to change the subject, but he didn’t want to be the one to bring up Stretch; and yet it felt wrong to bring up anything more frivolous while Stretch was in such dire straits.  
  
“I can try to heal it. Even if it’s still missing a chunk, maybe it’ll heal over and stop hurting.”  
  
“Nah, it’s fine. I deserve it, anyway.”  
  
“What? Why?”  
  
“I didn’t—I let him take Carrots again, didn’t I?”  
  
“You didn’t LET him—”  
  
“No, I HELPED him do it!”  
  
Blue climbed up his jacket to stroke his skull. “Ssh, it’s okay. You’re gonna help get him back, right?”  
  
Red hesitated, and desperation crept into Blue’s eyes. “Of—of course I am,” he assured the bunny.  
  
“What are we gonna do?” The tearful note in Blue’s voice tore at his soul.  
  
“We’ll—I’ll just—go see what’s happening, for starters.”  
  
Red’s phone buzzed. Blue backed off so that he could reach it in his pocket.  
  
It was a text from Edge: REMEMBER NOT TO KIDNAP CARROTS TODAY. I WILL CHECK!! AT RANDOM INTERVALS!!  
  
Red cringed. “Maybe we should wait until…” He trailed off. Would there be a better time?  
  
“We can’t—we can’t just leave him there another night,” Blue pleaded.  
  
“I don’t think Boss is gonna let us—he says he’ll be checking on him ‘at random intervals.’”  
  
“But he has his patrols and Guard stuff!”  
  
“Yeah, the problem is we have no way of knowin’ when he’s gonna come check on him.” Red shuddered. “And I really don’t wanna get caught again.”  
  
Blue looked at him with something akin to disgust, and Red hoped it wasn’t prompted by his own cowardice. “What if…” The bunny looked away in thought. “What if we go at night, when he’s asleep? I still can’t believe he actually, physically injured you like that…”  
  
Red frowned. “He’s not really a light sleeper.”  
  
“But we can just pop in, let Papy know we’re there so he can—wiggle free—” Blue cringed at the likelihood that Edge would be cuddling him like a teddy bear in bed. “And pop out again. And if Edge wakes up in the middle we’ll just teleport away and wait an hour or so and try again.”  
  
“It could work,” said Red. It was possible. Not likely, but possible. At least conceivable. And he didn’t have any better ideas.  
  
“You’ll do it?” Blue’s eye lights were bright with hope.  
  
“Sure. Of course I will.”  
  
Blue climbed into his arms, and Red held him. “He’s not gonna—do anything to Papy, during the day, right?”  
  
“Probably not. Even if he’s checking on him, he still has to patrol and junk.” Red hoped he wouldn’t go so far as to take time off work to spend with Stretch, but if he was going to, today would probably be the day. He didn’t mention his doubts to Blueberry.  
  
“Okay. I’m gonna make dinner for us, so we’ll be in top condition when we go over there tonight. But first I just—just need to stay like this a little.” He burrowed deeper into Red’s jacket, and Red held him tighter.  
  
They stayed like that for a long time, and Red might have gotten bored if he hadn’t had so much practice at being idle.  
  
“Um. Red.” Blueberry broke the silence eventually, and Red assumed he wanted to be set down in order to go start cooking, but before he could do so, the bunny continued, “Thank you for—uh—I don’t want to say ‘choosing our side’ over your brother’s, but maybe—maybe it is. So thank you for helping us.”  
  
It was like the words stabbed through his soul. He was choosing a bunny over his own brother. “Don’t thank me yet,” he said. “We still have to get Carrots back and keep him here.”  
  
“But if we wait until he’s asleep,” said Blue, and Red understood he meant Edge even though he refrained from naming him, “won’t he…you know…?”  
  
Red squeezed him tighter for a moment. “I don’t know. Maybe.” He would be surprised if Edge went straight to bed after dinner without ‘taking care’ of Stretch again. But then again, he’d already done it twice today, judging by what he’d said before he left. Was it only wishful thinking to hope that twice in a day might be his limit? “But I really don’t want to get caught again, and not just because of my ear. If we—if he sees us, he might—take more precautions to keep us away.”  
  
“But Red, he can’t keep you out of his room if you want to get in, can he? You can teleport.”  
  
“Yeah, but—what if he took our strategy of sabotaging the machine and turned it around on us?”  
  
Blue went stiff in his arms. “But—you could fix it, couldn’t you?”  
  
“Maybe. But if he did enough damage it could take a long time.” It would be riskier for Edge to try to take out their machine and then get back to his own, but he could do it by opening a portal on a timer, blasting the rabbits’ machine, and going back through, especially if he figured out how to offset the portal a little so there was no risk it would be affected. It wouldn’t be that hard. And then they’d be completely at Edge’s mercy for who knew how long, probably until well after the kits were born.  
  
Blueberry had enough knowledge of how the portals worked to come to the same conclusion. “Let’s not get caught,” he said.  
  
***  
  
Blueberry was able to distract himself with cooking for a while. After all, it was a necessary part of their plan to rescue Stretch for good! Red seemed unfocused all through dinner. Blue forced himself not to eat too quickly, but it was hard. He cleaned up his own dishes and the cooking things, waited not-very-patiently for Red to finish, then cleaned up his too. Then he started pacing.  
  
“Blue, save your energy,” said Red, when he noticed.  
  
“I know, I just—ugh! I can’t sit around and do nothing while—while—”  
  
“I know, but it’s still way too early. We could even take a nap to kill some time while we wait.”  
  
“There’s no way—!”  
  
“Yeah, I didn’t figure you’d go for that.” Red shifted, seeming to sink into the couch cushions a little more.  
  
“I’m keeping you awake, aren’t I?” Blue tried not to sound resentful, that Red could think of sleep at a time like this. He knew the fox cared; they just had very different ways of dealing with problems and reacting to stress.  
  
“Nah. But come and join me and maybe you’ll relax a little bit.”  
  
“All right.” Blueberry hopped up on the couch and let the fox put his arm around him, pulling him into a cuddle. It was surprisingly effective. He’d thought that Red might as well hold him still so he wouldn’t spend all his energy pacing, but he hadn’t expected to actually relax in the fox’s embrace. He clung to Red’s sweater, and something warm and wet touched his skull. Red was licking him.  
  
“Do you wanna—?” The fox proposed.  
  
Blue opened his mouth to say no. How could he do such a thing when Stretch was probably suffering through something horrible right at that minute? But he couldn’t deny it would probably help him calm down and not worry himself sick. “Okay,” he said.  
  
Red’s jaws pushed gently down around either side of his skull. He twisted so that his face wasn’t pressed into Red’s tongue. “Don’t let me stay in too long, okay? I don’t want to make us late.”  
  
“Mm-hmm,” Red answered, pushing him upward from below, so that Blue’s skull was pressed into the ecto-flesh of his throat.  
  
If his face hadn’t been pressed up against the ectoplasm, Blue would have liked to elicit further assurances, making sure Red knew he’d need time to get cleaned up after this, maybe pausing to—but it was too late for any of that; he was at the fox’s mercy now. It should have been terrifying to be so helpless, but it was actually freeing, in a way. There was nothing he could do, so he didn’t have to do anything.  
  
Red’s tongue and throat pressed around him, pushing him deeper as the fox swallowed. He kept his eyes squeezed shut to keep the fluids out of his skull, and relaxed, letting Red’s body move him as it pleased, squeezing him inexorably deeper until he finally settled in the somewhat looser space of Red’s stomach. There was still nothing he could do here except relax and wait for Red to let him back out, but the gentle pressure from all sides was comforting, like when Red had hugged him but even more so.  
  
***  
  
Stretch was forced out of his light doze by the sound of the door opening again. Edge had come in to check on him several times by now – thankfully all he did was check, feed him again, and pet him a few times – so it was probably just that. It was still nerve-wracking though, and the sound of him closing the door and walking deeper into the room was even more so.  
  
But he didn’t go straight to the bed this time like he’d done every other time. What was he doing? And did Stretch dare stop pretending to be asleep for long enough to poke his head up and check? No, he’d just lie here curled up in the blanket, his face buried in a pillow, and hope Edge left without bothering him this time.  
  
A short time later the bed dipped as Edge sat on it. “Wake up, Carrots,” he said as he pet an ungloved hand over Stretch’s skull and ears.  
  
Stretch stayed still, keeping his eyes closed and trying not to tense up and tremble. Edge would let him sleep, right? He knew the kits were taking a lot out of Stretch – well it was more the situation, but Edge thought it was the kits – so he’d be all right with him napping, right?  
  
“Carrots,” Edge said louder, so apparently not. “Time to get up. You sleep too much.”  
  
Stretch groaned as he titled his head to look up at Edge. He was wearing what could only be classified as pajamas. They were black – shocking – and covered in a bunch of little skull and crossbones symbols. But… did that mean it was nighttime? It had to, right? Enough time had certainly passed for that to be the case. So, Edge was going to go bed now, which meant…  
  
“Nah, I just went to sleep a little while ago.” Also, what else was Stretch supposed to do? He was literally chained to the bed; until the kits were born all he could do was lie around and do nothing, so he might as well sleep. “So, I’m super-duper tired. The kits are exhausting, ya know? Can I go back to sleep now?” He nuzzled his face into the pillow, trying to look as sleepy and not ‘cold’ as possible. Edge had already raped him twice today; surely that was enough, wasn’t it?  
  
Edge thought for a few seconds that seemed to drag into minutes. “No, mates always make love at night before cuddling together and going to sleep. But because you’re probably exhausted from the stress of being in a new place, and quite frankly I’m a bit tired from everything I’ve had to deal with today too, we can make it fairly quick.”  
  
Stretch couldn’t hold back a whimper as the blanket was pulled off him, leaving him cold in truth even with his hoodie on. First, Edge pulled said hoodie up to examine his belly. He rubbed a hand over it approvingly before pulling the hoodie back down and picking Stretch up. He placed him back down on the center of the bed on his back and pulled his legs out so he wasn’t curled up.  
  
“Do we have to?” Stretch said as Edge undid his pants and pulled them off. “I’m, uh… not really in the mood right now.” He would never be in the mood but… he’d already been through this twice today.  
  
Edge sighed in annoyance as he positioned himself between Stretch’s legs. “Summon your magic.”  
  
What would happen if Stretch refused? It probably wasn’t worth finding out. So, with a sigh he summoned his magic. He was maybe even used to this enough to be a little turned on already, probably had something to do with hormones too.  
  
He didn’t look at Edge until he felt the head of his cock press against his pussy. “Wait,” he said and by some miracle Edge actually paused.  
  
“What?” he said, annoyed.  
  
“Uh… can I turn around?” He _really_ didn’t want to look at Edge during this – or ever again, but the only way that would happen was if he found a way to make himself go blind.  
  
“Fine.” He pulled back a bit, giving Stretch room to flop around onto his front. He didn’t lift his pelvis though, much to Edge’s displeasure, based off his annoyed sigh and the way he roughly pulled Stretch’s hips up.  
  
But Stretch had only a second or two to appreciate his little act of defiance before Edge thrust into him, making him yelp in pain and surprise as his body was rocked forward. Edge wasn’t letting up either; he never did. So Stretch braced himself with his arms and pressed his face into the blanket beneath him. He was already panting as his magic quickly adjusted to Edge’s size and pace, growing slick with pleasure and arousal; his body was used to this by now. If only he had the energy to be as horrified by that as he should’ve been.  
  
Should he ask Edge to go faster so this would be over quicker? He wanted it over with as soon as possible but… it was already bad enough like this. Tears were already forming in his eyes, despite the fact that he should be emotionally numb to this by now, shouldn’t he? This was… how he was going to spend the rest of his life, unless Red and Blueberry figured something out that would actually work. And what were the chances of that happening?  
  
Choking back a sob, he clenched his magic around Edge’s as it filled him, letting out a moan instead. Why’d it have to feel so good? Why couldn’t it just not feel like anything? Or better yet why couldn’t this shit just not be happening?  
  
“H-harder,” he said with a sob. He was close, he just needed a little bit more. Then when Edge knotted he could sleep and forget about everything for a little while. Hopefully Edge wouldn’t want to use him in the morning and would let sleep as long as possible; doubtful, but hoping for it didn’t hurt, right?  
  
Edge grunted his approval as he pressed down on Stretch’s front to thrust harder into him. The new angle was more than enough to bring Stretch to orgasm with just a couple more thrusts. He let out a loud sound that he maybe should’ve at least tried to stifle as his body arched in pleasure. It was enough to tip Edge over too as he rammed himself in one last time, the knot setting in.  
  
Stretch’s body shook with a sob as warmth gushed into magic and Edge began petting him. “Can I… go home when the… kits are about to… be born?” That wasn’t _too_ far away, was it?  
  
“Why?” Edge said.  
  
“Because…” If Stretch could just get himself to stop crying it’d be easier to speak and come up with a reason other than he _desperately_ wanted to go home. “… Doctors, they’re… foxes here, right? So, they’d… want to eat me and… probably wouldn’t help me. And I… don’t wanna go in labor alone.” Or without whatever kind of pain relief healers used to ease birthing pains.  
  
“You won’t be alone. I’ll be here.” That would even worse than being alone.  
  
“But… but… what if… something goes wrong?”  
  
Edge was silent for a few seconds before replying. “I’ll think about. It depends on a number of things, most of all how likely it is our brothers would try to steal you again. Or we could bring a healer from your world to here.”  
  
Stretch groaned, wanting to argue but lacking the energy to even try. So, still crying, he reached for the pillow and buried his face in it. Was it bad that he could now easily sleep When Edge was still knotted inside him? Probably, but so what? He didn’t have to feel it when he was asleep.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue and Red implement their latest plan

Red had tried to get Blueberry to take his time cleaning up, but the bunny was too eager to get going. “We wanna make sure my brother has definitely had time to fall asleep,” Red reminded him, not for the first time.  
  
“I know. I gotta calm down or I’ll wake him up.” Blue forced himself to stand still and take some deep breaths.  
  
Red, meanwhile, was not looking forward to their mission in the slightest. Edge would want him to stay here and keep Blueberry occupied and away from him. Annoying him with a prank was one thing, but Red never would have imagined himself going so flagrantly against his brother’s wishes like this.  
  
“You gotta focus too, Red!” Blueberry couldn’t reach Red’s face, so he pressed his palms bracingly against his stomach instead.  
  
“Yeah. You’re right. Let’s get this over with.” Red followed Blue to the lab and through the portal, focusing on the immediate task and trying to forget the implications. “Okay,” he said once they were in the foxes’ lab. “If everything’s quiet, you’ll wake up Carrots—silently!—but if anything seems off at all, I’ll teleport us back out. So don’t let go of me.” They’d been over the plan a dozen times, but Red wanted to make sure Blue had it straight after all the times he’d revised it.  
  
“Got it.” Blue nodded. Red took his hand and teleported them to Edge’s room.  
  
Luck was on their side for once. Edge and Stretch were asleep, and Stretch was on the side closer to them, not trapped between Edge and the wall. Red held tight to Blue’s hand for a moment as he took in the scene, then let go so that Blue could wake up Stretch. They’d gone back and forth on who this duty would fall to; Red, as a less alien presence, was less likely to disturb or even wake Edge with his presence, but Blue was small and light and less alarming for Stretch.  
  
Their luck held, as Stretch’s eyes snapped open with only a faint gasp when Blue nudged him, and he seemed to understand the need for quiet, thanks to Blue’s finger held to his teeth in a shushing gesture. Next Blue stepped back and beckoned. Red took his other hand, ready to teleport as soon as Stretch was free.  
  
Stretch only stared at his brother. Did he not understand? He must realize what they needed him to do. He had a similar teleportation ability, when all his magic wasn’t going to feed and grow kits, so he should know how it worked. Finally, he moved, with a metallic rattle that froze Red’s soul. Something was wrong. Of course it was. It couldn’t just go smoothly, could it?  
  
With a nervous glance at Edge, Stretch carefully slid out from under his arm, along with the blanket over them. But no matter how careful he was, he couldn’t stop the clink of the chain links against each other with every movement. Red’s soul jumped at every sound, but Edge didn’t react, and at last Stretch was standing beside the bed. Blue took his hand and looked expectantly up at Red.  
  
Red knew this wouldn’t work. For purposes of teleportation, the collar, and by extension whatever it was attached to, counted as clothing. He couldn’t teleport someone out of their clothes—of course he’d tried; it would have been great for pranks—and he couldn’t teleport Stretch out of the collar. He caught Stretch’s eye and raised a hand to his neck, but Stretch shook his head. He couldn’t take the collar off.  
  
Blue took Stretch’s hand, and Red tried teleporting anyway. It was the least he could do when they’d come this far. He had to bite back a grunt when the magic failed—the chain must be attached to the bed, judging by the weight that felt like it was pressing down on Red’s shoulders for a moment. He could almost laugh—even if he had managed to teleport the bed along with Stretch, Edge would have come with it. But Blue’s questioning look was breaking his heart. He shook his head. This wasn’t working. Edge had known what he would do and taken steps to prevent it.  
  
Red tugged at Blue’s hand, trying to get him to let go of Stretch so they could retreat and regroup. But Blue wouldn’t let go. Red pulled more insistently, and Blue twisted out of his grip to hold onto Stretch with both hands. Stretch held him for a moment, then tried to push him back toward Red, but he was too gentle. Blue clung to him, ignoring both of their increasingly urgent attempts to get him to let go.  
  
“What are you doing here, Sans?” Edge’s voice was low and calm, for him, but it cut through the stillness like a blade. How long had he been awake? How had Red not noticed? Red yanked at Blueberry, but the bunnies were clinging tight to each other in horror.  
  
Edge sat up, so composed that Red had a sinking feeling that he’d been feigning sleep the whole time. “You know I would be happy for Blue to come visit his brother, if you didn’t try to sneak around and do it behind my back.”  
  
Red kicked himself. That’s what they should have done—play along and arrange a social visit, and then teleport away the first chance they got—that is, if Edge ever let his guard down when they were there.  
  
Edge reached for the bunnies. Red wasn’t sure if he wanted to pet Stretch, or separate the bunnies, or perhaps exact some kind of vengeance on Blue. But he knew he couldn’t let Edge touch them. Red tackled him and teleported them both away.  
  
***  
  
Blueberry had buried his face in Stretch’s hoodie, but when he heard motion, a thump, and the pop of a teleport, he looked up to find both foxes gone. “Red!” he called, too late.  
  
Stretch looked around at the empty bed, chain clinking with the motion.  
  
“What happened? Why couldn’t Red teleport us away? Is it something about that—that collar?” Blueberry hated the sight, the idea of the collar and chain on his brother, a blatant, visible sign of his captivity even if it wasn’t the culprit behind the failure of their plan.  
  
“Yeah, it’s, um, attached to the bed. He couldn’t teleport me away. And you wouldn’t let go.”  
  
Blueberry glanced at the door and window, wondering where Red had gone. Was he okay? What would Edge do to him? He wanted to run and look for him, but he couldn’t leave Stretch like this—even if it had been safe to go out on his own in the foxes’ world. “He bought us time,” Blue said, resolving not to waste it. “Let’s get that collar off.”  
  
“It’s got some kind of magic so that only he can take it off,” Stretch explained, his voice dull with misery.  
  
Blue tried anyway, but predictably, he couldn’t unfasten it. “We’ll find another way,” he said, confident. “Don’t worry, Papy.” He looked down the length of the chain. If it came down to it, leaving the collar and cutting the chain would be acceptable. There was probably something in the lab that could cut metal, if he could find it. But he hated to leave Stretch alone, and making his own way to the lab wasn’t without risk. What if he never came back, and Stretch was left alone and abandoned? He would try something else first. “Papy, I’m going to try and cut the collar off of you. Hold still.”  
  
He summoned a sharpened bone attack. Whole, blunt bones were more his style, but he knew the foxes favored jagged, broken ones, as piercing attacks. Now he was glad he’d tried to mimic them a couple times just out of curiosity. He pulled the hood of Stretch’s jacket up under the collar to provide a barrier between the attack and his brother, just in case, and, grasping the bone in his hand, wedged it under the collar. With a little effort he managed to poke it through the material of the collar, but his triumph was short-lived. It would take ages to cut through by poking little holes, if it even worked at all. He dismissed the bone and tried again, forming an attack with a cutting edge, not just a stabbing point. It took a few tries before he got one that was sharper than a butter knife.  
  
Stretch sat patiently on the bed while Blueberry sawed away at the collar, periodically re-summoning his attack, trying to make it sharper. Blue had to be careful, as Stretch was delicate enough even when he wasn’t full of kits, but worry for Red was gnawing at him the whole time. What was happening between the two foxes? Where were they? He had to focus on what he was doing, though, and it was frustratingly slow, especially at the beginning; but he was making progress. Over time, he got a little better at sharpening the bone attacks. He had passed the halfway point when a flash from the window lit up the room.  
  
Blue inadvertently let his attack dissipate. “What was that?”  
  
“Blaster fire, maybe,” said Stretch.  
  
Blue restored his bone and redoubled his efforts. “I’ll take you to the portal and then go find Red,” he said.  
  
“No. I’ll come with you.”  
  
“But you can’t defend yourself in this state.”  
  
“Are you gonna leave Red to fend for himself if I ask?”  
  
“What? Of course not!”  
  
“I’m not leaving you either.”  
  
“But this is dangerous, Papy!” Blue finally sawed through the last couple threads of the collar and it fell to the floor with a jangle.  
  
“We don’t have time to argue if you wanna go after Red.”  
  
Blue frowned at him, then reached out to help him to his feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little short but I wanted to let you all wonder what happened to Red :3
> 
> -wolfbunny


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bunnies go after Red

The next problem they faced was that the door was locked. Blueberry hated wanton destruction of property, but he had no choice but to pepper the lock with bone attacks until it broke. The rabbits hurried down the stairs. Fortunately the front door could easily be unlocked from the inside. Stretch was useful here since he was taller.  
  
Blue tried to stay alert for foxes, which could be lurking in any shadow—they probably wouldn’t even see them until it was too late—but not to focus so hard that he froze with terror and couldn’t go find Red. At least it was easy, once they were outside, to see which direction the blasters were being shot off in. He took Stretch’s hand, so they wouldn’t get separated, and headed into the trees. After a minute, he was worried he might have veered off-course now that the trees blocked his view, but then they heard the distinctive whine and boom of a blaster up ahead. Blue put on speed, dragging Stretch along with him.  
  
The bunnies emerged into a snowy clearing and saw the foxes squaring off, Edge batting away a formation of bone attacks with a long bone construct of his own, then summoning a blaster aimed at Red from behind. Red heard it charging and blinked out of existence, reappearing a few feet away as the blaster created a new crater in the well-churned snow.  
  
“Hey! Stop fighting!” Blue yelled, and both foxes paused, looking at him. Edge seemed a little singed, perhaps from a glancing blow or a near-miss from a blaster, intimidating despite being dressed in nothing but pajamas. Red had no obvious injuries, except that the crack he’d already had in his eye socket was bleeding magic, probably blinding him in that eye.  
  
Put on the spot like this, Blueberry wasn’t sure what to say to defuse the situation. “Red—” he started, but Red vanished, a split second before a crowd of bones stabbed into the snow where he’d been. Blue turned to the other fox. “Edge! Stop!”  
  
Edge glanced at the bunny, and Blue found himself pulled down onto his knees in the snow, as if his soul were suddenly made of lead. “Perhaps this fight is a little more fair now that I’m technically outnumbered,” the fox sneered, keeping Red busy dodging an incessant stream of small bones. “Though a rabbit hardly counts.”  
  
Blue felt Stretch take hold of his arms and help pull him back up onto his feet. “No, Papy, stay back.”  
  
“He can’t attack you without hitting me,” Stretch pointed out. “He won’t want to hurt the kits.”  
  
Blue didn’t like using Stretch as a shield, but he didn’t argue. There was a brief lull in the fight as the foxes glared at each other across the battle-scarred clearing. Red crouched, panting but still game. Magic dripped down his skull from his left eye.  
  
“Give up, Brother!” Edge yelled. “It’s clear who is winning this confrontation.”  
  
Red glanced at the bunnies and shook his head, sending a wave of bones at Edge, but the taller fox sidestepped them easily. It seemed as if Red was slowing down. Maybe it was a ruse, Blueberry hoped.  
  
“You can’t even summon a blaster without your eye,” Edge taunted.  
  
Red growled, and his left eye blazed to life for a moment before flickering out. He clenched a fist to it in apparent pain, and Edge took advantage of his distraction to prepare a blaster at point blank range. But Red wasn’t that distracted; he blinked out of the path of the beam, reappearing a few yards away, on the opposite side of the clearing from the bunnies. But Edge was prepared with another blaster summoned, and it turned to aim at Red as it charged. Red vanished, changing locations again just as the blaster fired, but Edge had another one waiting. Surely neither fox could keep this up much longer. But would Edge exhaust his magic first, or would Red? Blasters must be a lot more magic-intensive than teleportation, Blue thought, but while the battle had certainly taken a toll on Edge, Red looked like he was already on his last legs.  
  
Red must have had the same concern, because his next teleport took him right into Edge’s personal space, grabbing his collar bone through his skull-and-bones pajamas, throwing him off-balance. Blue saw his chance and summoned an attack at heel-level behind Edge before he could adjust his footing. When Edge tried to shift his balance so that Red didn’t knock him over, Blue’s attack tripped him, and he fell, Red’s weight pressing him into the snow on his back.  
  
Taking advantage of Edge’s surprise, Red stabbed a long jagged bone through his brother’s rib cage, pinning him down, then quickly summoned another, which he held poised over Edge’s chest. Blue guessed it was directly over Edge’s soul. “Give up, Boss,” Red growled, magic from his eye dripping onto the ripped fabric of Edge’s pajama shirt. “It’s clear who’s winning this confrontation.”  
  
“Never!” Edge snarled. “The Terrible Papyrus cannot be defeated by the likes of YOU. Nor will I just GIVE UP on my own mate!”  
  
Red’s eye flared again, the light visible even though he squeezed it shut, magic flowing more freely from the wound. The arm holding the bone attack tensed, drawing back slightly. Surely he wouldn’t—Blue hated Edge, but he was Red’s brother, there was no way—  
  
“Red!” he called out, and the fox opened his bleeding eye in order to look at him without moving his skull.  
  
Blue panicked—he’d distracted Red just when he had the advantage—he probably never intended to kill Edge—there were so many other things he could do with that attack other than stab him in the soul—and even if he had, so what? Stretch would be safe if Edge were gone.  
  
Stretch’s arms crossed over Blue’s shoulders, hugging him from behind. Red’s gaze shifted slightly to focus on Stretch, and Blue felt rather than saw Stretch shake his skull no. He didn’t want Red to kill his brother.  
  
Red snarled and drove the attack between Edge’s ribs, missing his soul, stabbing his shoulder blade through his rib cage, making him grunt in pain. “You’d better thank—” he started, but Edge grabbed him in a fierce mockery of an embrace and sank his teeth into Red’s right ear. Red yelped, pressing against Edge’s ribs, and in desperation somehow tore himself free, landing crouched in the snow in front of him, glaring up at him with his good eye. Magic dripped from his ear and eye, but only at a leisurely pace.  
  
Edge took his time deliberately picking himself up from the snow and brushing himself off. When he was done, he summoned a blaster, pointed at Red from a forty-five degree angle so that it didn’t block his own view. Red glanced at it but didn’t move, glaring defiantly at Edge, breathing hard but no longer actually panting.  
  
“Are you done?” Edge asked, as the blaster opened its jaws and began to charge.  
  
Red didn’t respond.  
  
“Hmph,” said Edge, looking down at his brother with disdain.  
  
“No!” shouted Blue, running toward Red without any clear idea how he’d gotten free of Stretch.  
  
Edge glanced at him, his expression still hard and disdainful, and the weight returned to his soul, making him stumble—he hadn’t even noticed when it had gone—but he caught himself and kept going. Red had shielded him from a blaster once, and it was his turn to repay the favor. He achieved his target position, between Red and the blaster, just as light burst from its jaws, drowning out Red’s “No!” But instead of being enveloped in light, he was surrounded by Red’s familiar arms as the fox curled over him, shielding him with his body.  
  
“No!” Blue squeaked. Red couldn’t take a hit like that; he was too badly hurt and drained already! At any moment he expected to be buried in the fox’s dust.  
  
Red collapsed on top of him, pressing him into the snow. “Red! Red!” he called, feeling decidedly squished but still afraid the fox could dust at any moment. Red didn’t respond, and Blue finally squirmed onto his back to try and push the fox off. “Red, answer me, please!”  
  
After a long moment, to Blue’s relief, Red got off of him. Then Blue realized that it was Edge who had freed him, rolling Red over onto his back on the snow. The bunny tensed, his instincts screaming at him to run, but his rational mind unwilling to leave Red behind.  
  
“Relax,” Edge grunted. “It’s over. I won.”  
  
“No!” Blue clung to Red’s skull, glaring up at Edge. “Just leave us alone!”  
  
“Two bunnies and an unconscious fox in the middle of the forest? How long do you think you’ll last?”  
  
Blueberry blinked back tears, but some escaped anyway. “We don’t want your help!”  
  
“Don’t be silly. Come on, Carrots, come over here before some random predator picks you off.”  
  
Stretch reluctantly made his way over, making a semi-circle around Edge in order to avoid getting closer to him than was necessary to join Blueberry. Edge watched him, glowering thoughtfully. “Would you have done that for me, Carrots?” he said.  
  
As Stretch came within arm’s reach, Blue pushed at Red’s skull. If he would only wake up, and had one more teleport left in him—maybe they could still escape.  
  
“No, of course not,” Edge answered his own question. “Not with the kits. Bunnies aren’t really meant to be that brave, anyway. Luckily, I’m too strong to need that kind of protection and sacrifice.” He reached for Stretch to fondle his ears, but Stretch shrank away. “Ah. That must have been upsetting for you to watch.” Edge’s tail waved thoughtfully. “Let’s get you home, Carrots. I had better see to my brother before he dusts, but as soon as that’s done I can comfort you and help you relax.  
  
“No, please.” Stretch’s voice was barely audible.  
  
“I’m sorry, Carrots. I know you need attention, but I can’t just let my brother dust, even if he is an idiot.”  
  
“YOU’RE the idiot!” Blueberry snapped, and clamped his teeth down on Edge’s hand.  
  
“There’s no need for schoolyard insults just because you and Red couldn’t beat me two-on-one.” Edge lifted his hand, letting Blueberry dangle from it, and the bunny dropped off in order to stay close to Stretch and Red.  
  
“We did beat you! Red could have—he WOULD have killed you, if we hadn’t stopped him!” Blueberry hoped he wasn’t sealing Red’s fate by saying such a thing while the smaller fox was unconscious and helpless.  
  
“Nonsense. It may have looked bad for a moment—from where you were standing—”  
  
“And THIS is how you repaid his mercy!”  
  
“Come now, Blueberry. He’s barely singed.”  
  
“Help me heal him,” Blue ordered, suddenly horrified that they’d been arguing instead of helping Red—but he couldn’t have let that comment about ‘comforting’ and ‘relaxing’ Stretch pass unchallenged, either.  
  
“Fine.” Edge’s ears folded back in irritation, but he stalked around the bunnies to place his hands over Red’s soul, and after a moment the glow of healing magic appeared below his gloves. Blue focused his efforts on Red’s eye. The top of his skull was singed, and Blue assumed the back as well, but there didn’t seem to be any structural damage or bleeding. Stretch put his hands on Red’s skull as well, but didn’t use any magic—he probably couldn’t, with the kits.  
  
Blueberry remembered doing this before, back when he’d still had faith in Edge—to be a decent brother, that is, aside from very possibly eating his brother’s mate. Fortunately, this time it only took a few minutes before Red stirred, groaning uncomfortably as he registered the aftereffects of the battle.  
  
Red glanced around himself, then suddenly slapped Edge’s hands away and teleported along with the two bunnies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh fight scene X3


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red makes a last-ditch attempt to get the bunnies safely home

Stretch found himself in the foxes’ lab.  
  
“You two get home,” Red urged. “I’ll stay and take care of the machine. You’ll finally be free.”  
  
“Red, come with us,” Blue said, hugging the fox, who was still prone on the floor. At least he wasn’t dripping magic anymore.  
  
“Nah, I’ll be fine. And someone has to do it.”  
  
“You can use our machine to come back and take care of this one. Come with us.”  
  
“I don’t think I—you gotta go now. This is your chance.” Red managed to sit up by leaning against the wall.  
  
“Please,” Blue said, still holding tight to him, which wasn’t helping his mobility.  
  
“I’m sorry, Blue, but—it’s not forever.”  
  
“What if he—what if he kills you?”  
  
“Boss isn’t gonna kill me.”  
  
“He almost did today!”  
  
“Yeah, well…” Red trailed off.  
  
“What if he sees you helped us escape and—”  
  
“I’ll be fine, Blue, I promise. I’ll text you. But you gotta go now, for Carrots’ sake.”  
  
Stretch couldn’t bring himself to say anything to justify leaving Red in this state, but he went to the controls and activated the machine. If Red was willing to risk the consequences, he would take this chance. He couldn’t quite bring himself to tell Blue to hurry up either, though he was terrifyingly certain that every second brought Edge closer to the lab entrance.  
  
Red put his arms around Blue, who was sobbing quietly now. “Go ahead and open it, Carrots.” He sounded tired.  
  
Stretch called up their universe profile, but before he could activate the portal, the door slammed open. It was Edge, of course. Before he made it down the stairs, a blaster materialized in the cramped space, aimed at the machine. “Step aside, Carrots. I didn’t want to cut you off from your own kind, but between you three, you have left me no choice. At least you’ll have your brother here with you, not that Red deserves to keep him.”  
  
“No,” said Stretch, centering himself more solidly in the blaster’s path.  
  
“Come now, Carrots. I know you’re worried about the lack of rabbit doctors, but I’ll take care of you. There are some types of monsters here that don’t eat rabbits—I can find a healer for you. And your brother is here. What more do you really need?”  
  
Stretch shuddered to think they’d come this far, gotten this close, and they still couldn’t beat Edge. “I’d rather die than stay with you, Edge.”  
  
“Carrots, this is no time to be hormonal,” Edge scoffed. “Get out of the way. I can’t hold the blaster charge forever.”  
  
“I mean it, Edge. I—I hate you.” Saying it felt brave, reckless, and also somehow childish. But there was no doubt it was true.  
  
Edge shook his head and took a step forward. “That’s very hurtful, Carrots, but I understand you’ve had a difficult and traumatic day.”  
  
Stretch shivered, but didn’t move. There was no hope; Edge was going to forcefully move him out of the way and destroy the machine and trap him here forever, and he would never be free from him until he Fell Down and went to dust. He closed his eyes, unable to watch the fox approach.  
  
“Boss, wait.”  
  
“Don’t you dare teleport me, Sans.” Edge’s voice was a menacing growl. “I won’t go so easy on you the next time.”  
  
Stretch opened his eyes again to see Red had leaned over and placed a hand on Edge’s leg. He wondered if Red even had the magic for another teleport, or if it was an empty threat.  
  
“’m not gonna let you touch Carrots,” Red mumbled.  
  
“He is my mate!”  
  
“No he’s not—he never wanted to be.”  
  
“You’re the one who told—”  
  
“I lied.”  
  
Edge paused and let the blaster charge dissipate without firing. He raised his hand as if he would strike Red, but Blueberry snarled at him, letting go of Red in order to take a defensive stance in front of him.  
  
“Why would you lie about something like that, Sans?” Edge demanded. The blaster seemed to be watching curiously.  
  
“You were gonna KILL him!”  
  
“It’s not—” Edge couldn’t quite deny that. “But he’s a rabbit!”  
  
“Boss, you gotta decide right now if he’s a rabbit or a monster.”  
  
“Don’t be stupid, Sans. He’s clearly both!”  
  
“Yeah, but you gotta decide if you’re gonna treat him like a rabbit, and eat him for breakfast, or treat him like a monster, and an equal, and believe him if he says he doesn’t wanna be your breakfast OR your mate.”  
  
“He’s just emotional because of all this drama you caused. Of course he wants to be my mate. Any monster would be lucky to be mated to the Terrible Papyrus!” Edge turned back to Carrots. “Come on, Carrots, get out of the way.” The blaster opened its jaws and started to charge up again.  
  
“Okay, fine, I’m emotional,” Stretch snapped. “But it’s a stable, life-long emotional state of wanting nothing to do with you!”  
  
Edge looked taken aback.  
  
“You tried to kill my brother, you tried to—actually you did eat me, and my brother, for that matter—and worst of all you—you forced me into this—this relationship and—” He looked down at his belly, where the kits were hidden under his hoodie. “I never wanted any of this.”  
  
“But then why did you—”  
  
“Because you would’ve killed me otherwise!”  
  
“That’s not what I—”  
  
“Because I’m terrified of you! You’re a giant, rabbit-eating fox and—and you were going to kill me. And the only reason I’m alive now is that Red intervened. It turned out horribly but—he still saved my life.”  
  
Edge fell silent for a moment. “I can’t deny that I’m terrifying. But I thought…”  
  
“You thought he wouldn’t be scared of ya if he was your mate,” Red supplied. “Maybe not, if he had wanted to be your mate in the first place. This is—this is partly my fault, I recognize that. Because if I had come up with some other way to stop you from…” Red trailed off, looking at Stretch. “But it’s still mostly your fault, Boss, for trying to eat my mate’s brother in the first place.”  
  
“You eat Blue all the time.”  
  
“Don’t split hairs, Boss, you know what I mean!”  
  
“I’m not—splitting HARES.” Edge looked away, dismissing the blaster. “See?”  
  
Red stared at him in disbelief.  
  
“Technically we’re not hares,” said Blue, but he was nearly as stunned.  
  
“I’m not splitting rabbits either. See, he’s in one piece. And so are you. And you can both go, if you like. For now.” Edge crossed his arms and looked away, as if the wall were suddenly interesting.  
  
Stretch didn’t dare to move or speak.  
  
“Really?” asked Blue.  
  
“I—may have miscalculated how much you soft monsters are affected by a near-death experience. But—I’m sure Carrots will come to his senses eventually—never let it be said that I wouldn’t give him some space when he needed it.”  
  
Red rolled his eyes, but Edge didn’t notice. “What’re you gonna do if he decides he doesn’t wanna be with you after all?”  
  
“I can’t believe he would come to such a mistaken decision when we are clearly so perfect for each other. Even if there were some … misunderstandings … in the beginning … that caused us to get off to a rough start. The rest of it was—”  
  
Stretch interrupted him. “I promise I’ll think about it, if you’ll promise me one thing.” He trembled as he spoke, hoping he wasn’t ruining his one chance to escape. Red looked as concerned as he felt.  
  
“Anything, my love,” Edge answered.  
  
“Don’t—don’t come and get me. No matter how long—no matter what I decide—you can’t come and—” He searched for a word nicer than ‘abduct.’ “—and carry me off, from my own world.”  
  
“Of course,” Edge agreed. “I wouldn’t come and kidnap you.”  
  
“You—you did it a couple times already.”  
  
Edge’s sockets widened. “I was just retrieving you after Red kidnapped you.”  
  
“No, you—you never asked or believed me when I told you what I wanted.”  
  
 “I can’t take your every random whim seriously when you’re—” Edge started to point accusingly at him, then deflated with a sigh. “All right. I’ll reflect on my behavior and endeavor to be more careful in the future.”  
  
“Okay but mainly—you promise not to come for me—to leave me alone until and unless I say so.”  
  
“I already promised I wouldn’t go to your world and bring you back here. Now you’re saying I can’t visit you, or—even talk to you?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
Edge bristled. “I—I suppose I can tolerate it for now, if you need that much space. You can—you can at least send word on the condition of the kits.”  
  
“Red will let you know how the kits are doing,” Stretch agreed.  
  
“Very well. Go on then. The sooner you go, the sooner you can come back and I can stop worrying about you and our kits.”  
  
Stretch didn’t dare tell him that wasn’t how this worked. He went back to the controls, feeling incredibly nervous turning his back on Edge and his blaster, which was still hovering, watching him. He managed to open the portal, then looked back at Blueberry, who was still standing protectively over Red. The fox had slumped to the floor again now that his threat to teleport Edge away again was no longer needed.  
  
“Come on, Red,” Blue said, pulling at him.  
  
“I can’t, I—can’t leave Boss.”  
  
“You’re hurt, Red. Please come let me take care of you.”  
  
“Hey, I got a couple blows in on him, too. We’ll both take care of each other.”  
  
“I don’t trust him,” Blue whispered, still loud enough for every skeleton in the room to hear.  
  
“Hey, don’t worry. I’m already a lot better since the two of you healed me earlier.” Red demonstrated by sitting up, trying not to wince.  
  
Blue put his arms around the fox’s neck. “Please,” he said, on the verge of tears again.  
  
Red whined in distress, looking over the bunny’s shoulder toward Edge.  
  
“Go if you want.” Edge crossed his arms. “I don’t need you to bandage my wounds—it was barely a scratch, anyway. Just don’t let yourself dust, or I’ll have to come after Blue for vengeance.”  
  
Ignoring several disturbing implications of Edge’s threat, Stretch looked pleadingly at the others. They needed to get away before Edge changed his mind about the whole thing.  
  
“Okay.” Red sounded uncertain, still looking at Edge even as Blueberry helped him to his feet. Stretch would have gone over to help, too—it was hard for Blueberry, being so much smaller, and the quicker they were through the portal the better—but that would mean moving closer to Edge. So he shifted from one foot to the other by the control panel impatiently. “I’ll be back in—a few days, I guess,” Red said.  
  
“Suit yourself.” Edge looked away to show how much he didn’t care.  
  
At last Red and Blue were at the portal, but they didn’t go through—they stopped and looked at Stretch, almost in unison. They probably didn’t like the idea of letting Stretch go last, in case Edge snatched him at the last second. Stretch didn’t much like it either, but he and Red were most proficient at operating the portal, and he didn’t trust Red not to change his mind and stay behind if he went last. He had better set the timer to close the portal, and they could all go through together—not too long, because he didn’t want it even within the realm of possibility for Edge to get tempted to follow them—but not too short, because being trapped here for even a minute longer would be a nightmare—what if Edge decided he couldn’t be trusted to take care of himself, and kept him here after all? He shuddered at the thought, and set the timer for forty-five seconds, then practically leaped through the portal, pushing Blue ahead and dragging Red after him.  
  
  
  



	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red mediates between his brother and the bunnies. Everyone tries to relax and recover from the trauma of the last 15 chapters.

“Red, I think you’re well enough to eat at the table now,” Blueberry complained as he took their dishes back to the kitchen. “It’s been a week.”  
  
“I dunno, I might have a relapse.” Red stretched out dramatically on the carpet. Stretch had the couch, so Red had taken to lying on the floor next to it. Blue had found some pillows and blankets to make him more comfortable, although he wasn’t pampering him so much now that he was, to be honest, fully recovered from his injuries.  
  
“That isn’t how—” Blueberry shook his head in mock disgust. “Never mind. You want some dessert?” He climbed up on top of Red.  
  
“What is it?” Red grinned at him.  
  
“Me!” He leaned forward, bringing their faces closer.  
  
“Yeah, I do.” Red leaned up to lick him.  
  
“Get a room, you two,” Stretch grumbled from the couch, opening one eye.  
  
“Oh! Sorry, Papy.” Blue sat up. “How are you feeling?”  
  
“Tired. And nauseous.” Stretch sighed. “But it could be a lot worse.”  
  
“Blue, let’s do as he—” Red started to offer to teleport Blue to his room, when his phone vibrated in his pocket.  
  
“Is it from—him?” Blue asked, as Red pulled it out.  
  
Who else would it be? Red looked at the message:  
  
WHEN IS CARROTS COMING BACK  
  
While he was reading it, another message arrived.  
  
YOU SHOULD COME WITH HIM, YOU CAN BRING HIM DIRECTLY INTO THE HOUSE  
  
Red snapped the phone shut without replying. “I guess I can’t stay away forever.”  
  
“You can,” said Blue. “Stay here forever. Right, Papy?”  
  
Stretch looked alarmed to be put on the spot so suddenly. “Uh. Yeah, I guess so.”  
  
Red almost laughed. “It might get pretty crowded here when the kits start growing up,” he said, sitting up, holding Blueberry in his lap. “I guess—I guess I’ll go visit him tomorrow.”  
  
“You don’t have to,” said Blueberry, hugging his arm.  
  
“Yeah but—I wanna see how things are going. And—I do miss him.” He looked around guiltily at Stretch. “Or maybe I just miss the skeleton I thought he was, before all this happened.”  
  
“I could come with you,” Blueberry offered, but he was clearly anxious about the idea.  
  
“No, that’s okay. I’ll be fine. Come on, let’s go to your room—You promised me dessert, remember?”  
  
“Okay.” Blue grinned, blushing cyan, and turned to his brother. “Call if you need anything, Papy!”  
  
Red teleported, landing them on Blueberry’s bed. He was straddling Blueberry, who lay on his back beneath him, looking up at him. “How ‘bout we have some fun before dessert, huh?” He lightly ground his pelvis down into Blueberry’s to make sure he was getting across his point. He needed to get his mind off stuff and this was the perfect way to do that. Blueberry probably did too, if he had to guess.  
  
Blueberry’s face flushed even deeper as he wriggled beneath Red. “I don’t see why we couldn’t.”  
  
Red bent over to kiss Blueberry, gently pinning his wrists with his hands. With their size difference it was a bit uncomfortable, so he quickly withdrew, but not before lapping his tongue over the side of Blueberry’s face, teasing about what they’d do when they were done with their fun.  
  
He let Blueberry wriggle out from underneath him so they could make out more comfortably. From there it wasn’t long before they were rubbing up against each other and undressing. Red’s magic was already pooling and it didn’t take more than the sight of Blueberry naked to get it to take shape, forming into a dick.  
  
Blueberry smiled at him, wriggling his body in way that probably was meant to be sexy but was ruined by the fact that he was clearly trying not to giggle at his own antics. His pelvis was glowing too, though his magic hadn’t formed into anything solid yet.  
  
“You’re _berry_ cute,” Red said as he pressed himself close, holding Blueberry’s back against his chest. He lowered a hand to rub at Blueberry’s pelvic inlet to help his magic take shape.  
  
Blueberry’s breath hitched as he rolled his pelvis into Red’s touch, his magic forming into a nice wet pussy. “How many times are you going to make that pun before you get sick of it?” He said with fake disapproval and annoyance.  
  
Red chuckled, pressing his fingers into Blueberry’s magic, drawing another gasp from him. “Who says I’ll ever get sick of it? It’s a _berry_ good pun, ya know.”  
  
Blueberry tilted his head back to frown at Red, or tried to; faking unhappy expressions wasn’t a strong suit of his. “You’re not allowed to use the same pun twice in a row. At least try to come up with something new if you absolutely must make bad jokes.”  
  
“Let’s stop _pussy_ -footing around then, I _cunt_ wait to eat you up.”  
  
Blueberry gasped, blushing bright blue as Red pulled his fingers out of his pussy and licked the blue magic off of them. He then gently guided Blueberry down to his hands and knees, pelvis lifted in the air. “You really shouldn’t swear,” Blueberry chastised as he did so, apparently dropping the pun thing – he knew bringing it up again would encourage Red to make more.  
  
“Sorry,” Red said as he lined his cock up with Blueberry’s magic. He pushed in, moving slow to give Blueberry time to adjust. The first few times they’d done this Red had been worried about hurting Blueberry; he was twice Blueberry’s height after all – not counting his ears. But it had proven to not be an issue, as long as he was gentle, especially at the start.  
  
Blueberry let out a loud breath once Red was all the way in, clenching his pussy around Red’s length. “Remember to be quiet. Papy might hear us if he’s not napping.” Which he probably was, but it was better to be safe than sorry.  
  
Red hummed his agreement as he started moving. Part of him wanted to pound into Blueberry with reckless abandon, but he didn’t want to risk hurting him. But even without that it was hard not to moan too loudly. Blueberry’s magic was so _tight_ and warm, he couldn’t imagine a better sensation in the whole multi-verse.  
  
Blueberry was having trouble staying quiet too as he moaned and rolled with Red’s thrusts. The sounds he was making went straight to Red’s erection, enticing him to thrust a little harder. The bed creaked softly underneath them; there was nothing they could do about that though.  
  
Blueberry’s ears folded back as he relaxed his upper body, supporting himself with his forearms so that Red would be thrusting down into him at an angle. An apparently very nice angle from the moans it brought out of Blueberry, encouraging to say the least.  
  
From there it wasn’t long before Blueberry was breathing out Red’s name in a loud moan as his body arched with orgasm, his pussy fluttering and clamping down on Red’s dick. Red moaned himself, gripping Blueberry’s spine as he went a little faster. Which quickly brought him to his own climax.  
  
He half moaned, half grunted as he held off his magic’s need to form a knot – Blueberry had made it clear that that was uncomfortable for him. So Red had learned how to hold it off; doing so made his orgasm slightly more intense, so he didn’t mind.  
  
When he came down he pulled out of Blueberry, grinning lewdly at the sight of the red magic dripping out of Blueberry’s pussy. He then dispelled his cock and flopped over onto his side. “Ya good, Blue?”  
  
“Yeah, I’m good,” Blueberry said as he shifted to lie on his side as well. He dispelled his magic, causing Red’s cum to land on his pelvis. “You ready for dessert?” He smiled wide as he gripped onto Red’s ribcage to pull himself closer.  
  
Red chuckled. “I’m _berry_ ready.”  
  
“Really? That pun again?”  
  
“It’s a _berry_ good pun with a skele _ton_ of uses.”  
  
Blueberry fake frowned again. “You’re the worst.”  
  
“And you’re the best. So it balances out.” Red leaned in to lick his face, then further down to clean up his pelvis, sliding Blueberry higher on the bed to reach it better.  
  
“Ahh!” Blue gasped, magic glowing on his bones as Red flipped him onto his back, righting himself in order to lean over him on his knees and elbows, licking away the traces of magic from his pelvic inlet.  
  
“ _Orange_ you glad I quit making fruit puns? I could tell they were driving you _bananas_.”  
  
“Red!” Blueberry shrieked, then clapped his hand over his mouth, remembering that they didn’t want to disturb Stretch. “You’re doing it right nahhh!”  
  
Red had swept his tongue across both of Blue’s feet and gathered his tibiae and fibulae into his mouth, resting his teeth near the knees and sucking gently on them. Blue squirmed but didn’t pull away, so he pushed forward, Blue’s feet intruding into his throat. Blueberry giggled until Red stopped to lick his tail bone—he couldn’t do a lot with Blue lying on his back with his legs squeezed together, but it was enough to make him gasp. Then he slid the bunny’s pelvis and tail onto his tongue, gulping his legs down ahead of him.  
  
Blue tilted his skull back, hands gripping the sheets, as his lower body was enclosed in Red’s mouth. “Nnn?” Red asked.  
  
“Keep going,” Blue answered, so Red opened his jaws and swallowed, pulling Blue’s lower ribs between his teeth. Blue lifted his skull and patted Red’s cheekbone. “You’re blushing,” he pointed out. So was he, but Red couldn’t say anything with his mouth full of Blue’s ribs. So he reached up and stroked Blue’s skull before sliding his hand underneath the bunny’s shoulder blades, to support him while he sat up. Then Blue folded his arms against his sides so that Red could ease him deeper, letting him slide the rest of the way in, finally slurping up his ears and swallowing down his skull.  
  
Red was still naked, so he could see almost everything as Blue moved down past his ribs and settled into his stomach. He looked pretty content, curling up on his back, his eyes closed, grin relaxed. “Hey Blue. Comfy in there?” Red called to make sure. Blue opened his eyes long enough to grin wider at him. Satisfied, Red lay down, on his back so as not to squish Blueberry, drowsily enjoying the sensation of the bunny shifting around to adjust to the new position, then lay still to avoid disturbing him any more. Lying still was basically doing nothing, and that was something he was good at, at least.  
  
***  
  
“You could have given me more notice, but nevertheless I have prepared dinner. How are the kits?”  
  
Edge peppered him with complaints and questions as soon as he appeared in the living room. Red lowered his ears under the onslaught, but answered, “They’re fine. I swear they’ve grown over the past few days.” He was no doctor, but they were probably growing better now that Stretch was away from his primary source of stress, he thought privately.  
  
“And how is Carrots?”  
  
“He’s fine. Blue’s taking good care of him.”  
  
Edge grumbled. “I could take better care of him if he would hurry up and get over this … issue.”  
  
“Yeah, well, don’t hold your breath, Boss. What’d ya make for dinner?”  
  
“Your favorite. Lasagna.”  
  
Relieved that Edge had let him change the subject away from Stretch, Red shuffled to the table and sat down as Edge served them both. Lasagna would be a nice change from constant tacos. He took a bite.  
  
“Wait, this isn’t rabbit, is it?”  
  
“You love rabbit.”  
  
“But … isn’t it kinda awkward? When I live with two of ‘em now.”  
  
“You live with them now?”  
  
Red froze. He hadn’t meant to say that.  
  
“At least stay here the night,” said Edge, focusing on his plate.  
  
“Okay, Boss.” Red picked at his food, eating some of the noodles and cheese, wondering how early he could get away with going to bed.  
  
***  
  
CARROTS, HOW MUCH LONGER  
  
“I thought you said he didn’t have your number,” said Blue, rushing over to steady Stretch’s arm as he stared at the little screen.  
  
I THINK IVE BEEN VERY PATIENT  
  
“Don’t look at those, Papy. Put it on silent. No, just turn it off.”  
  
IF YOU WONT COME HERE ILL HAVE TO GO THERE, I HAVE TO SEE MY KITS  
  
Stretch held down the power button and the phone went blank.  
  
“It’s okay, Papy, he’s not gonna come here. He promised. Right, Red?”  
  
“Right.” Red didn’t sound very certain. “I’m, uh… I’m gonna go talk to him, you know, kinda remind him that … he promised that …” Red vanished, teleporting to the lab.  
  
Blueberry supported Stretch as he lay down on the couch, quietly stealing his phone. “It’s okay, Papy. He’s not coming here. Even if he tries, Red won’t let him.”  
  
Stretch couldn’t accept his reassurances, though. Every other time he’d come close to escaping Edge, he’d been dragged back. He’d been a fool to think this time would be different, just because he’d had a few days’ respite.  
  
“Papy, you’re trembling,” Blue said gently.  
  
“No! No I’m not!” Stretch backed away, into the corner of the couch, he wasn’t cold, he didn’t need warming up, he needed Edge to leave him alone!  
  
“Papy?” Blue stayed where he was, hand outstretched. “What’s wrong? Did I—did I do something?”  
  
“Huh?” Stretch glanced around the room. Nobody was there except for Blue.  
  
“You’re safe now, Papy,” Blue said, keeping his distance. “Nobody’s going to hurt you.”  
  
“S-sorry,” he said, trying to relax, which just made him shiver harder.  
  
“You don’t need to apologize. It’s okay. Just relax and let Red and me take care of—”  
  
“I am relaxed! I don’t—I don’t need to—”  
  
“Papy, look at me. It’s only me, I’m not gonna do anything to you.”  
  
Stretch looked at him for a moment before he realized what had happened. “Sorry, I just—he always said I was cold and tense and he had to—had to help me warm up and relax, you know.”  
  
“Oh. But he did it by … I’m so sorry, Papy. I should have done something sooner, Red should have …”  
  
Stretch reached for him and Blue climbed up on the couch with him. “I’m just glad you both were there, and we all got back safely,” Stretch said, still wondering how long the hard-won peace would actually last.  
  
“You stopped shivering,” Blue observed, trying to look on the bright side.  
  
“Please just don’t comment on it either way. If I’m shivering or cold or, or tense or relaxed.” He started shivering again at the memories the words drew up.  
  
“Oh! Sorry, Papy, I won’t.” Blue sat close to him, upset that he was upset, tamping down his guilt to focus on whatever he could do to help Stretch, but not knowing what that was. “Can I—hug you?”  
  
“Yes, please.” Stretch stayed curled in his corner, with Blue’s arms around him, letting the shivering run its course without trying to fight it. He didn’t have to panic and hide his fear; Edge wasn’t there to punish him for it. Blueberry was much too small to mistake his hug for Edge’s suffocating embrace.  
  
They stayed that way for a long time, and it was nice, except that Blueberry was so worried. Stretch tried not to feel guilty for worrying him, because that would just worry him more. Then again, he might also be worried about Red. “How long has Red been gone? Maybe you should text him,” Stretch suggested after his shivering had finally subsided.  
  
“Hmm. Yeah,” Blue agreed, but as he reached for his phone, Red appeared in the middle of the room.  
  
“Red! How’d it go?” Blue hopped off the couch and ran to greet him.  
  
“He wasn’t home.” Red grinned. He set down a bundle he was carrying. “I dunno if you have space for this, but I brought back some clothes an’ stuff. I figure I’m gonna be pretty much living here, if you’ll have me.”  
  
“Of course, Red! But what happened?”  
  
“He wasn’t home,” Red repeated, sitting down in his usual spot in front of the couch. “I guess he was texting you from work. So I did some work on the machine.”  
  
“You sabotaged it? Then how did you get back by yourself? You could have called and Papy or I would have—”  
  
“No, not exactly. I added password protection. Now unless we’re unfathomably unlucky, Boss won’t be able to come here on his own.”  
  
“That’s great!” said Blue, his ears standing up for the first time in ages.  
  
“What’s the password? It’s not something like ‘mustard,’ is it?” Stretch couldn’t help but be skeptical.  
  
“Nah, nothing like that. It’s actually—I should tell you two just in case you ever find yourselves over there again somehow—” He glanced around as if to make sure Edge wasn’t in the room, listening. “It’s the last four digits of Blueberry’s phone number, but ya gotta multiply them by the day of the month. That way it changes all the time, so even if he were to see me enter it, he couldn’t use it the next day.”  
  
“Oh. That could actually work. You just came up with that?”  
  
“Yeah, I had to implement it on the fly, and it can’t be too complicated because you have to be able to solve it in a pinch. But it can’t be too obvious or he’ll guess it. So just add zeros or chop off digits on the left side until you’ve got the right length—you can do it in your head or use the calculator in your phone, but for stars’ sake clear it as soon as you’re done. You both got that? We can’t write it down anywhere.”  
  
Both bunnies nodded, Blue with great enthusiasm.  
  
“I guess we’ll know he tried to use it if he starts yelling at you about the machine not working,” said Stretch.  
  
“Yeah,” Red agreed with a shrug. “But if we’re lucky, he’ll either keep his promise, or not want us to know he tried to break it.”  
  
“Hmm,” said Stretch, not pointing out that he’d already broken it by trying to contact him. “Blue, can you take my phone to Undyne and have her change the number? I still don’t know how he got it.”  
  
“Ah. I think that’s my fault,” said Red. “The other day when I stayed the night, he washed my jacket for me. He probably snooped on my phone and got your number. In fact, don’t even tell me your new number. I’ll just contact you through Blue if I need to.”  
  
“That means he could have Blue’s number as well,” Stretch pointed out.  
  
“Er, yeah. Not ideal.” Red scratched at the back of his skull. “Since I used it for the password an’ all. But I was in a hurry and I had to use something I knew I wouldn’t forget. I shoulda done something different for the first of the month, but—”  
  
“I think it was very clever,” said Blue, patting the fox’s knee before hopping up onto the couch to rejoin Stretch.  
  
“I do appreciate it, Red,” Stretch said. “I just hope it’s enough.” He relaxed into his corner of the couch again, feeling like there was nothing he could do but wait for his fate to reveal itself.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stretch's kits are born.

Blue stayed with Stretch throughout the delivery, and Red stayed in the room even if he mostly averted his eyes. He’d teleported them all to Undyne’s—Stretch felt safer away from the machine, even if it wasn’t going to bring Edge through—made himself useful by fetching anything he was asked for, although in some cases it would have been quicker for Undyne to find it herself, and finally teleported them home when it was all over.  
  
“Aren’t you tired, Papy?” Blue asked as Stretch sat down on the couch holding his two bundles. “Red and I can take care of them if you want to sleep.”  
  
“No, I—it’s all very—I’m fine for now, just relieved to finally dispel all my magic. But you can help. I can’t feed them both at once.”  
  
“Of course we’ll help. Between the three of us, we ought to be able to handle it, right, Red?” Blue turned to give him a confident grin. “I’ll make some bottles,” he said, disappearing into the kitchen.  
  
“Here, you take Fang.” Stretch leaned a little toward Red and he gingerly accepted the baby.  
  
“You’re calling ‘em Fang?” Red peered in at the infant’s skull. It did have sharp teeth, just like a tiny version of Edge, though it’s velvety ears were long and tinged orange, suggesting it took after Stretch. It was swaddled in a blanket now, but they’d already seen it had a short tail—more bunny than fox, but not as fluffy as its rabbit kin’s.  
  
“Gotta call ‘em something.” Stretch shrugged.  
  
“Heh, I guess it fits. What about the other one?”  
  
“I don’t know. You already took ‘Red.’ Maybe ‘Pepper’?”  
  
“Sticking with the vegetable theme?”  
  
“I’ll think of something else.”  
  
“Nah, it’s a good name. Cute.”  
  
“What’s a good name?” Blue asked, coming back in and handing them both bottles of magic monster formula.  
  
“Fang and Pepper,” said Red.  
  
“Papy, you named them already? I can’t believe I missed it!”  
  
“No, I just—had to call them something,” Stretch protested.  
  
“Blue, take Fang for a minute so I can take some pictures.” Red returned the bottle along with the kit, and dug his phone out of his pocket.  
  
Both of the bunnies stared at him as he activated the camera, and he hesitated. “For Edge?” asked Stretch.  
  
“Well. Partly. But also just for, y’know, keepsakes.”  
  
“Yeah, okay.” Stretch tilted the kit he was holding so that Red could get a good photo. Pepper had triangular ears—a lot like Red’s, actually, but small and unscarred—on a face resembling Stretch’s, and a tail with the beginnings of some formidable fluff. Red snapped a close-up and then one of Stretch holding the kit, then repeated the procedure with Fang and Blueberry.  
  
“You won’t send him the one of me, will you?” Stretch asked when he showed them the pictures.  
  
“Nah, just the kits,” said Red.  
  
“Here, take Pepper,” said Blue. “You need to get used to holding and feeding them. They’re going to eat a lot.”  
  
“No, don’t—don’t disturb ‘em if they’re already eating, I don’t—” Red protested, but Blue deposited the kit in his arms anyway, leaving him no choice. He took the bottle too, trying to keep it in position. “Oh no. Am I doin’ this right?”  
  
“If they’re drinking, you’re probably doing fine,” said Blue, grinning with amusement.  
  
“If Pepper turns out weird, I’ll blame you for feeding them wrong on the first day,” Stretch smirked.  
  
***  
  
Edge hadn’t responded to the photos, or to Red’s text saying he would be there at the usual time. Red had set a routine of visiting his brother once a week, to have dinner and be grilled about how Stretch was doing and when he was coming back, then pressured to stay longer when he got tired of it and decided to leave. Sometimes he felt some of their old rapport, but he couldn’t help but wonder if it was all in his imagination.  
  
Taking a deep breath, he teleported into the living room. Edge was standing there, waiting.  
  
“Hi, Boss,” Red said, to fill the silence.  
  
“I can’t believe you’re keeping me from my own kits.”  
  
Red frowned. He couldn’t deny they were Edge’s kits. That was why he’d sent the photos. “It’s not really my decision, Boss.”  
  
“I bet you aren’t trying very hard to convince him to come home.”  
  
Red shrugged uncomfortably. “I’m doin’ what I can to keep you up-to-date on your kits, Boss.” That was all he could offer.  
  
“And when will I get to see the kits myself?”  
  
“I dunno, maybe I can bring ‘em to visit when they’re bigger.” Stretch probably wouldn’t like that idea, but Red thought the kits might want to meet their—other biological parent. When they were big enough to understand such things.  
  
“That won’t be necessary. Carrots can bring them when he comes back.”  
  
“Boss, I—I hate to tell ya, I don’t think he’s ever coming back.”  
  
“I’m not stupid, Sans. I realize by now that he has no intention of coming back.”  
  
Red stared.  
  
“But he’ll come for Blueberry if he’s here.”  
  
Red didn’t like where this was going.  
  
“And Blueberry will come for you.”  
  
“What?”  
  
Red hesitated a moment too long and Edge had him by the collar of his jacket. “I’m not so naive as to expect you to actually help,” he growled.  
  
Not wanting to find out what more permanent measures Edge intended to take to stop him teleporting away, Red managed to wriggle out of his jacket. Not wanting to abandon it—his phone was in the pocket—he teleported across the room instead of directly to the lab. “Boss, please. I don’t want to—”  
  
Edge dropped the jacket and lunged at him, so he teleported to grab it on his way to the lab. But that was exactly what Edge had expected him to do, and he found himself trapped, the larger fox’s arms wrapped tightly around him this time. Once upon a time he would have felt safe there, even if Edge were angry with him, but now he could no longer be sure how far Edge would go. “Papyrus, stop! What are you gonna do, collar me to something heavy?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
Red panicked, struggling and whimpering as Edge carried him up the stairs, still clutching his jacket. As they reached the door to Edge’s room, he regained enough composure to beg. “Boss, please, think about this. Blue isn’t gonna come to rescue me. What chance would he have?”  
  
Edge set him on the floor next to the bed, keeping one hand firmly pressing down on his shoulder as he picked up the same chain he had used on Stretch. The collar was gone, but a lock was hanging ready from the final link—even with his magic intact, Red wouldn’t be able to cut through that. But the bed was made of wood—and he could resort to blasters if necessary. He would escape and go back to Blueberry and never come here again, he vowed as Edge locked two links of the chain together around his neck.  
  
Having an escape plan already made him bold. “You know, I’m not gonna ask Blue to come for me. If I’m stuck here, I’ll tell him I decided to stay, make him think I don’t even wanna go back. Anything to keep him away from you,” he said as he pulled his jacket back on.  
  
“You’d rather break up with him than bring him to live here? I guess you don’t love him as much as I love Carrots.”  
  
Red bristled. “That ain’t love. Love is when you want him to be happy and safe, even if you never get to see him again.”  
  
“Carrots will be happy and safe when he comes back to me.”  
  
“No, Boss. He’s not comin’ back.” Red picked up the slack chain connecting him to the bed. “Because you do shit like this.”  
  
“We’ll see,” said Edge, turning toward the door, then looked back over his shoulder. “You can sleep on my bed during the day if you like. I’ll find you something else to sleep on at night. Think of it as a vacation: You don’t have to do anything but sleep the day away. That’s what you’re inclined to do anyway, isn’t it?”  
  
Red glared. A break from responsibility might have been nice, but not when the rabbits needed his help caring for the kits, and certainly not when it came with being chained up. “Who’s gonna send you pictures of your kits if I’m stuck here, Boss? Did ya think about that?”  
  
“They’ll be here themselves soon enough,” said Edge, flicking his tail dismissively.  
  
“No, they won’t. I really don’t wanna sit here on this chain waiting for you to realize that.”  
  
“Of course they will. You can lie to Blueberry if you like, but I’ll tell him the truth. And if he does love you, he’ll come for you.” He took a step toward the door.  
  
Red should have been eager to be left alone so he could work on escaping. But he felt as if Edge leaving him like this would be the final blow to their relationship. “Boss, don’t—You promised you wouldn’t try and get Carrots back before he was ready to come on his own.”  
  
“No. I promised not to ‘kidnap’ him. I didn’t promise anything about ‘kidnapping’ YOU. As if you could call it kidnapping to make you stay in your own home for a few days.”  
  
Red sighed. “Fine. At least let me come eat at the table like a civilized monster.”  
  
“Since when do you care about niceties like that?” Edge scoffed, but he turned to face him again.  
  
“Please? I promise not to run away.”  
  
“All right, fine.” Edge took out a key and knelt to unlock the chain from Red’s neck. “Lasagna will be done any minute.”  
  
Red stayed where he was as the chain fell away, rubbing at his vertebrae where it had rested. As soon as Edge turned away, he teleported to the lab. The machine took precious seconds to boot up, but he entered the password and opened the portal in record time. Edge must not have noticed immediately that he’d gone, or he would surely have burst through the lab door by now. Red thanked the stars for his luck, set the timer for ten seconds, and disappeared through the portal.  
  
***  
  
“You’re back early,” said Blueberry, alarmed. “How did it go?” He was holding Fang, who seemed to be asleep. Stretch was dozing on the couch, holding Pepper and an empty bottle.  
  
Red realized he was shaking. “Not—not good.”  
  
“Was he angry he missed the kits being born?” Blue asked, keeping his ears casually upright. Stretch tensed a little but pretended to be asleep.  
  
“Yeah. Yeah, I guess.”  
  
“What did—Did he do anything to you?” Blue’s ears lay back in apprehension.  
  
“Uh. Nothing bad—nothing too serious.” Red found he didn’t want to tell the bunnies what had happened.  
  
His phone buzzed in his pocket.  
  
SANS WHERE ARE YOU  
  
YOU PROMISED  
  
HOW DARE YOU  
  
He powered it off.  
  
“Red, what did he do?” Blue came closer and placed a hand on his arm.  
  
“Ahh, you know, he just tried to get me to stay there longer.”  
  
“He always does that,” Blue said cautiously.  
  
“Like, forever. And a little more—forcefully. Than usual.”  
  
Blue tensed. “Red, I don’t think you should go visit him next week.”  
  
“Yeah. Yeah, neither do I.” Red slumped, ears flat. He’d broken a promise to Edge, so Edge might feel justified breaking a promise to him, too. That meant he couldn’t trust any guarantee of safety that Edge agreed to. He’d really lost him for good this time, and all because he didn’t want to wait for a better chance to escape.  
  
Stretch stopped pretending to be asleep. “Give me Fang. You two go relax for a while, okay?”  
  
“Thanks, Carrots,” said Red, as Blue somehow transferred the kit without waking them up, then took Red’s hand to lead him up the stairs. He didn’t feel like teleporting them.  
  
In the privacy of Blue’s room, the bunny guided him to sit on the bed, got up next to him and started rubbing his shoulder. “Want me to take your mind off things?”  
  
“That sounds really good.” Red grinned weakly, for a moment, then lost it. “I’m sorry about—all of this.”  
  
“Yeah, it’s—it’s too bad that any of it happened in the first place. But look on the bright side. No matter their origins, the kits are adorable.”  
  
“Yeah, they are.” Red smiled more genuinely.  
  
Blue’s hands came to a stop. “Hey, Red? Would you ever wanna have kits of our own?”  
  
Red’s eye lights went out for a moment, but he reignited them with an effort, turning his skull toward Blue. “Really?”  
  
“Not, like, right now, because we’re so busy with Papy’s kits. But some day. Maybe while they’re still young enough to be good playmates.”  
  
“Uh. Maybe. I dunno. Wouldn’t half-fox kits be kind of big for you?”  
  
“Papy’s kits are big but I can handle them.”  
  
“I mean—to carry them. In—when you’re pregnant.”  
  
Blue laughed. “That’s an easy problem to solve. YOU can carry them!”  
  
“Oh. I guess I could.” After everything he’d seen Stretch go through, he had some reservations. But Blue’s kits would likely be smaller, and Blue was a good mate, something Stretch hadn’t had. “I’ll, uh, think about it. But meanwhile—we could practice,” he suggested with a lascivious grin.  
  
“Okay,” said Blue, eye lights twinkling as Red twisted his upper body so their mouths could meet for a kiss.  
  
Red kissed him, then opened his jaws wider, engulfing his skull.  
  
“Red, what are you doing? I thought we were gonna—” Red leaned forward, pushing him deeper. Blue squirmed in protest for a moment, but then went still and reached down to pull off his gloves. That was enough consent for Red, who lifted him up, gulping once as he slid deeper, and pulled off his boots as well, remembering Blue preferred not to wear those when he was eaten, even when he was otherwise clothed. It was harder to get the fox spit out of them, he said.  
  
Blue’s fluffy tail tickled his nasal bone, but another gulp brought it into his mouth. Blue was relaxed, waiting patiently for Red to finish swallowing down his legs. By the time Red peeled up his sweater to check on the bunny in his stomach, Blue had the same pleasured expression he usually wore after being swallowed. But when he had righted himself and looked around at Red, he gave him a confused look punctuated by a brief struggle, pressing his arms and legs into the ectoplasm around him.  
  
Red grinned at him. “You said we could practice, right? You should be bigger than any kit of yours, so if I can carry you around like this, I should be able to handle it, yeah?”  
  
Blue crossed his arms, glaring at him.  
  
“You want out?”  
  
Blue nodded. Red leaned over as he dispelled his magic, so Blue landed on the bed and not on his pelvis.  
  
“That’s not what I meant and you know it!” the rabbit protested, starting out angry but deteriorating into giggles by the end of the sentence.  
  
“Sorry, sorry. I couldn’t resist. Red licked some of the residual magic off Blue’s skull.  
  
Blue gathered up his gloves and boots from where they’d fallen to set them neatly aside. “Want me to show you what I did mean?”  
  
“Hell yeah,” Red said with a grin. They’d come up here to relax and get their minds off things, after all.  
  
Blueberry smiled as he returned to Red and put a hand on the side of his face to kiss him again. This time Red pulled him a little closer instead of eating him.  
  
“Ya know how to top?” he said when they separated.  
  
“Of course, I know how to top,” Blueberry replied with mostly fake indignation. “I’m not stupid.”  
  
“I know, I was joking, trying to be…”  
  
Blueberry put a hand over his mouth. “Don’t start that.”  
  
“You don’t even know what I was gonna say?” Now it was Red’s turn to fake being offended.  
  
“I do too, you were going say ‘punny’ and it’s not funny. You’ve made that joke way too many times.”  
  
“That’s ‘cause it’s…”  
  
“Nope, do not,” Blueberry interrupted. “I’m on top of my game today. Now less joking and more…” He cut off with a blush, putting a hand over his mouth.  
  
“Fucking?” Red supplied for him.  
  
“You’re a bad influence but… yes, you get the idea. You shouldn’t swear though, especially since we live with kits now and might be having some of our own soon.” Well, he had a point.  
  
“’Kay, sorry.” This was probably the first time he actually meant it when he apologized for swearing. Well, he sort of mean it; the kits weren’t in the room.  
  
He picked Blueberry up and pulled him onto his lap to kiss him again. He was eager to get on with business, see what it was like when Blueberry topped. His energy and the fact that he was a rabbit would undoubtedly make it interesting – why hadn’t they thought to do this before?  
  
It wasn’t long before they were stripping. Red’s magic was already pooling, pushing towards becoming a dick like usual. But he formed it into a pussy instead, not his first time doing that, but he didn’t do it often.  
  
Blueberry formed his magic into a cock. It seemed big for a bunny, but Red didn’t have any frame of reference so he didn’t know. He rolled over onto his back, spreading his legs to allow Blueberry to get between them. The sight of him there, still lightly coated in goopy magic from his brief trip into Red’s stomach, sent a jolt of arousal straight to Red’s pussy.  
  
“I’ve, uh… never done this before,” Blueberry said, looking a little unsure for the first time this night.  
  
“It’ll be fine,” Red assured him. “It ain’t hard, I can do it. Well, there is one thing that is hard, if ya know what mean.”  
  
“I do but it’s not funny.” Despite his words Blueberry looked mildly amused. He could be just as perverted as Red sometimes and he knew it, even if he’d never admit it aloud.  
  
He positioned himself over Red and lined their magic up. He slid in much gentler than he needed to. But the magic-on-magic contact was nice. His eye lights morphed into stars once his cock was buried all the way inside Red. He wasn’t particularly big but it was a nice fit anyway. “You good?” he said, almost seeming to quiver a little.  
  
Red clenched around him. “I’m not a fragile virgin, Blue, if I had a problem I’d say something.”  
  
That was apparently all the invitation Blueberry needed to start thrusting. He started off at a moderate speed, which turned out to be slow for him, as his pace rapidly increased until he was going faster than Red would’ve thought feasible to keep up with for more than few seconds. But he did have seemingly endless energy a lot of the time. He stuck out his tongue in concentration as he pounded into Red, his ears folded back.  
  
Red moaned as he rolled his head back and panted, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. The bed creaked and rocked beneath them under the force of Blueberry’s pounding.  
  
“Shh, Red,” Blueberry said. “We don’t want Papy to hear.” He was being a little hypocritical though as he was a tad noisy himself and doing a mediocre job of stifling himself. But he was right; Stretch hearing them would be awkward, and it’d be rude of them to keep Stretch from a potential nap, since that was most likely what he’d be trying to do. So Red bit back on another moan.  
  
“You like it though?” Blueberry continued, his voice strained with effort. How he could hold any sort of conversation when he was fucking so fast was beyond Red. “Am I doing good?”  
  
“Yeah.” Red’s climax was building and each quick thrust brought him a little closer. It hit a little while later, sending waves of pleasure rolling through his body that made thinking even harder.  
  
Almost as soon as he came down, Blueberry climaxed too, thrusting in with a hot spurt of liquid magic into Red. His body tensed hard for a second or two before he relaxed, letting out a sigh.  
  
“You okay?” Red asked pushing himself up a little.  
  
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Blueberry smiled as if nothing were wrong. “You want to go again?”  
  
Red lifted an ‘eyebrow,’ studying him. He seemed fine, was barely even out of breath. So… “Yeah, again sounds nice.”  
  
Blueberry immediately started thrusting again with no build up this time. If anything, his excitement about going again made him thrust harder and faster. It was a good thing he wasn’t huge, else it would’ve quickly become too much.  
  
Red eventually climaxed again, arching into Blueberry and moaning loudly. Blueberry followed soon after, once more his body seeming to almost lock up for a second or two before going back to normal as if nothing were wrong.  
  
“Why do you do that?” Red asked, panting out of breath and a little sore.  
  
“Do what?”  
  
“Tense up when ya… ya know.” He made vague gesture with his hand towards Blueberry.  
  
“That’s what rabbits do when they… you know, with a… member.”  
  
Red grinned at the way Blueberry blushed – he wasn’t even really saying anything that lewd. “Let’s take a nap,” he said before Blueberry could suggest they go again. Red probably could but he was sleepy – helping with the kits certainly wasn’t doing anything for his already low energy levels – and a nap sounded really nice. How much harder would it be if they had their own kits? … Now wasn’t the time to think about it.  
  
“All right.” Blueberry hopped off and dispelled his magic. “Let’s get cleaned up first.”  
  
Red dispelled his own magic and half rolled half flopped off the bed so he could clean Blueberry’s cum off his pelvis. If he were flexible, he’d bend down and lick it off so he could stay in the bed. But he wasn’t so he’d have to do things the old-fashioned way, luckily it didn’t take long. Then he stretched out on the bed, still basking in the afterglow, not feeling any need to cover his bones with a blanket, considering that Blueberry had just about seen them all from every angle by now.  
  
The bunny climbed on top of him, sitting in the space between his pelvis and rib cage, leaning forward onto his sternum.  
  
“You wanna sleep in there?” Red asked.  
  
Blue pushed himself higher on Red’s chest and tried to pry open his jaws, ineffectually.  
  
“I’ll take that as a yes,” said Red, then obligingly opened his mouth, revealing the red magic of his tongue and throat.  
  
Blueberry seemed content to prop himself up on his elbows against Red’s collar bone and gaze into it. Red flushed a little, wondering what the bunny found so appealing. “C’mon, Blue, I can’t hold it open forever.”  
  
“Oh. Sorry, it’s just—so mesmerizing.” Blue pushed forward again and thrust his skull down between Red’s jaws. Caught unprepared, Red blocked him with his tongue and held him with careful, gentle pressure from his teeth, before he got deep enough to choke him. He wasn’t sure if he could do this while lying on his back, but sitting up to change the angle seemed like a lot of effort, so he decided to give it a try. After he relaxed, it was easy, for the moment, because Blue was actively pushing himself in, and all Red had to do was let him.  
  
Red was surprised how far Blue managed to burrow into his throat with minimal help from him, but eventually his legs were sticking straight out from Red’s mouth and he had nothing to push against. Red tilted his skull back a little so Blue could keep his legs stretched out straight, and finished swallowing the bunny down, then relaxed again as he felt Blue curl up in his stomach like usual. Raising his skull almost felt like too much effort, but he did it anyway. “You okay in there?”  
  
Blue gave him a thumbs up, and he was asleep as soon as his skull dropped back onto the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is just the epilogue. Is there anything you particularly want to see resolved?  
> -wolfbunny


	18. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red and the bunnies just want the kits to grow up safe.

“Look, it’s Mama. Can you say Mama?”  
  
“Stop that, Red. I told you, I’m their dad, not their mom.”  
  
Red grinned guiltily. “I know, don’t worry. I don’t think they’re ready to start talkin’ yet anyway.”  
  
“You’d be surprised how fast bunnies grow up.”  
  
Red tried to pull his phalange out of Pepper’s grasp, but he didn’t try very hard. “At least they’re actually sleeping for a while between meals now.”  
  
Stretch paused, running his hand lightly over Fang’s ears as they slept. “I’m glad you’re both here,” he said more solemnly. “Imagine if it had just been me trying to keep them both fed.”  
  
Red laughed, forcing the tone to stay light. “Yeah, it’s a good thing there’s three of us and only two of them. We can each take one and still have someone left to do other stuff, like cook or sleep.”  
  
“Blue’s the only one who ever does anything useful on his off-shift,” Stretch said, smiling.  
  
“Hey, sleep is useful!”  
  
“I guess I can’t argue with that.” Stretch appreciated a good nap about as much as Red did. He looked thoughtfully down at Fang, then asked quietly, “Are you still talking to Edge?”  
  
Red let Pepper grab his other hand as well. “Not at the moment. He hasn’t sent me anything, and—On the one hand, maybe I ought to send him some more photos, because doesn’t he—well, I don’t guess he has any right to it after what he did, but if it’s enough to keep him happy, that would be better for everyone, right? But on the other hand, it might just keep him focused on them and remind him what he’s missing.”  
  
Stretch didn’t react, still looking down at Fang.  
  
“So I haven’t sent him anything, and I’m not sure whether I should or not, if he ever does ask.”  
  
“I don’t suppose there’s any way he’ll just leave us alone forever,” Stretch muttered. “I think—” He paused, running Fang’s ears through his fingers. “I think I’d feel safer if he didn’t have a machine at all.”  
  
Red bit back the urge to joke about stealing Edge’s food processor. He knew which machine Stretch meant. “Yeah. Yeah, me too, but … What if you or Blue ended up over there somehow with no way to get back?”  
  
Stretch shuddered visibly at the thought. “That would be awful, but—don’t you think it’s more likely that he’ll come here?”  
  
Red looked sullenly down at Pepper, who was gnawing on his finger now. “I guess.”  
  
“And if he can’t come and—get me—there’s no way I would be trapped over there in the first place, right? But if he did, he could just break the machine himself so I wouldn’t be able to get back.”  
  
“I’d come and—Blue and I would come and get you back again.”  
  
“Of course,” Stretch said, his tone equal parts grateful and nervous. “But I’d rather avoid the whole thing.”  
  
“What you’re saying is, you want me to go disable the machine in my—his world, a bit more thoroughly.”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
Pepper filled the silence between them with pleased gurgling sounds.  
  
Eventually Stretch continued. “I know maybe it feels like severing another connection with your bro.”  
  
“Nah,” Red denied. “I mean, we still have our machine here. And we should keep it in working condition just in case we ever have to, y’know, go on another rescue mission.” Perhaps that wasn’t the best way to phrase it. He didn’t really want to rub in the fact that they’d gone to such trouble to save Stretch. But he couldn’t stop and compose something eloquent when he was in such a hurry to deny that he was bothered by cutting himself off from Edge. Besides, it wasn’t as if their ties would be completely severed as long as they still had their machine here in the rabbit universe. Besides, it wasn’t as if he cared anymore. Besides, it wasn’t as if Edge had cared enough about him to keep in touch. Besides, it wasn’t as if Edge respected him enough to refrain from chaining him up and cracking his skull with a blaster and—he’d listed the hurts over in his head numerous times, trying to convince himself he didn’t care about Edge either.  
  
“Red? You okay?” Stretch sounded concerned. He must have gotten lost in thought.  
  
“Yeah, of course.” Red forced a grin. “I’ll—I’ll take care of Boss’s machine, sometime, uh … tomorrow afternoon.” He knew if he left the time frame vague, he’d just keep putting it off. And if he did it after dinner today, Edge was likely to be at home. Mornings weren’t really him. But during a weekday afternoon he could expect the Captain of the Guard to be on patrol or some other Royal Guard business.  
  
“Thanks, Red,” Stretch said meekly. Red knew he felt indebted. It was too bad, because if the rabbit had been ungrateful, Red would have enjoyed lording it over him. How was Red supposed to resent him for the crack in his skull, the extra notches in his ears, and most importantly the loss of his brother, if Stretch was so sensitive and appreciative?  
  
“It’s the least I can do.” Red focused on Pepper, pulling his finger out of their mouth and giving them a teething ring instead. Skeletons, so far as he knew, didn’t teeth—one of the many trials skeleton parents were spared, according to Blue, who had done actual research—but the toy was probably better to chew on than his hand, and if the kit bit much harder—he’d hate to be dusted by a baby rabbit.  
  
***  
  
“I don’t know if I—are you sure we shouldn’t wait until tomorrow?” Red backed toward the stairs, his tail curled between his legs.  
  
“Tomorrow won’t be any different, Red!” Blue put his hands on his hips and tapped his foot. “It’s not like you can text him and ask his schedule! So unless you have some information you didn’t consider yesterday, I don’t see what makes tomorrow a better candidate!”  
  
Red scoured his brain for another excuse, but Blue was right. “Okay. Just. If something happens, you—you can’t come after me.”  
  
“Nothing’s going to happen, Red! You don’t even have to go all the way through. You can just kinda lean in and blast it.”  
  
“But what if Boss is waiting on the other side and he grabs me and pulls me through?”  
  
Blue’s ears twitched in alarm at the idea, but he repeated firmly, “That’s not gonna happen.”  
  
“I won’t be able to text you. He might look at my phone.”  
  
“If you have your phone you can just call me.”  
  
“We should have code words in case he reads our messages.”  
  
“Red, you’re just trying to delay it.”  
  
“But what if—”  
  
“Okay, fine. If you get captured, mention Metta-fox to tell me it’s not safe, or Metta-bun to tell me it’s safe to come get you.”  
  
“Okay, but what if—”  
  
“You’re not going to tempt me into spending all afternoon working out codes until it’s too late to go today! Come on, Red!” Blueberry took his hand and pulled him toward the machine.  
  
Red let himself be pulled to the controls, where he obediently turned on the machine and called up his native universe profile, stopping short of actually opening the portal.  
  
“Breathe, Red. It’s gonna be okay.” Blueberry, standing behind him, petted his tail. It gave him an idea. “I’ll hold onto your tail so he can’t pull you through.”  
  
“No, Blue, you’d get pulled through with me.” Sure, odds were that it would go off without a hitch, but Blueberry wasn’t taking this seriously.   
  
“What can I do to make this easier for you?”  
  
“N-nothing, just, stand there and, I guess, provide moral support.”  
  
“Okay,” Blueberry agreed, going from hesitant to enthusiastic over the course of the word. “You can do it, Red! I believe in you! I’ll give you a reward when you’re done!”  
  
“Wait, what? What’s the reward?”  
  
“Uh… I haven’t decided yet. But maybe—maybe help making some kits?” The bunny winked at him.  
  
“Kits?! I thought we were gonna wait?”  
  
Blueberry laughed. “Yeah, you can have that one later. I’ll think of something!”  
  
Red grinned, distracted him from feeling scared or anxious over his mission. But now, turning back to the controls, he couldn’t think of any more excuses to put it off. It still took him several seconds to convince his hand to actually press the button. The familiar portal flared to life. He stepped up to it, ears pressed back with anxiety. Now that the portal was open, he just wanted to close it as fast as possible, so procrastination was less of an issue. Leaning against the edge of a portal through the fabric of space-time didn’t seem like a great idea, so he stepped over it, leaving one foot and his tail in the rabbit universe.  
  
The lab was just as he remembered it. If Edge had been there recently, he hadn’t cleaned too much. Red could just summon a blaster from here and decimate the machine. But he had an idea: what if he kept the damage internal, so that Edge wouldn’t notice anything was wrong unless he tried to actually boot it up? He stepped the rest of the way through the portal, then realized Blue might think something was wrong. He turned and stuck his face back into the rabbit universe. “Everything’s quiet over here. I’m gonna go all the way in. I’ve got an idea.”  
  
“Okay. Be careful!” Blueberry was fidgeting nervously, but still supportive.  
  
Red had the access panel open before he realized that the sound of the blaster would probably attract Edge’s attention if he was home, and Red would still have to close the panel again if he wanted the machine to appear undisturbed. He almost dropped the idea, but after thinking for a moment—which was hard when every extra second he spent here ratcheted up the urge to fall into a panic—he realized that if Edge was home, he had no need to close the panel anyway, since his brother would know something was up when he heard the noise regardless. He would have time to jump through the portal and close it if Edge burst in, right? He didn’t feel too confident. Edge could probably get down the stairs in half a second if he really wanted to.  
  
Red wished Blueberry were there to help keep him rational, but it wasn’t worth the risk to the bunny. Still, he came up with a plan. Leaving the panel open, he walked back to stand next to the portal. He only wished he’d left Blue at the controls with instructions to close it the moment he came back through. Then again, he’d feel pretty silly if he lost half his tail when Edge hadn’t even been there. He summoned a blaster at a small enough size that it could fire through the access port, and melted as much as he could of the machine’s innards, angling the blaster to reach more. Then it was time for the really nerve-wracking part—waiting to see if Edge appeared. Blueberry was probably worried. And with every passing second, Red was less sure if he actually heard approaching footsteps or he was just imagining them.  
  
But several minutes passed uneventfully. Surely that had been more than enough time for Edge to get to the lab, if he was around. Red closed the panel again—there was some scorching around the edges, but perhaps Edge wouldn’t notice. The smell of burning electronics was a lot more noticeable—maybe even from outside the lab. But there was nothing he could do about it now. Looking around one more time to make sure he’d left everything as he’d found it, Red hurried back through the portal.  
  
“Was it okay?” Blue asked as he reappeared, clearly worried by how long he’d been gone.  
  
Red closed the portal before he answered, leaning against the controls with a sigh of released tension.  
  
“Red?” Blue came up behind him and laid a hand on his back.  
  
“Went off without a hitch.” Red turned to him with a grin.  
  
“Are you sure?” Blueberry reached up and touched Red’s face, making him aware of something warm and wet on his cheekbones.  
  
“Yeah, it was all exactly according to plan. Boss wasn’t—wasn’t around.” Red refused to acknowledge the mysterious liquid. No doubt Blue would want him to talk through his feelings about it, sooner or later—probably sooner. But he could certainly avoid it for now. “So where’s my reward? What do I get?”  
  
Blueberry giggled. “How about—me?”  
  
Red grinned easily. “I get that all the time, though.”  
  
Blueberry pouted.  
  
“But it’s a good reward—very rewarding. To eat or—?”  
  
“Whatever you want!” Blueberry grinned back at him, appeased, and hopped into his arms. “Let’s go.”  
  
Red teleported them both to Blue’s room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've written a second epilogue about Edge.  
> Why is he so quiet?  
> Is he getting any poetic justice?  
> Find out in the final chapter.  
> Then later, planning on a sequel about Red and Blue having their kits :3


	19. Epilogue 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edge sure has been quiet.

Mettafox’s cooking program was infuriating. There was no way the procedures he’d demonstrated would lead to a lasagna like that. Edge had half a mind to call in and tell him how to do it properly, but he couldn’t seem to find his phone.  
  
And the production values of the show were seriously flagging. Of course it wasn’t easy to produce programming for the entire Underground all day every day, but if Mettafox had any pride in his work he would find monsters of a certain level of capability with— Oh, wait. That extraneous sound wasn’t coming from the TV; it was coming from the door. Focusing in on it, Edge realized someone was knocking. Of course. (How could he have mistaken that sound?)  
  
He opened the door to see Red. (Why would Red bother to knock?)  
  
“It’s about time you got back!” he scolded, pulling Red inside and using the action as a pretense to pick him up and hug him. He wouldn’t admit it, but he’d missed his brother while he’d been—wherever he’d been. He ran a hand over Red’s skull. The crack in his eye socket had healed—still scarred, but much less obvious than it had been. Edge looked closer—  
  
“Papyrus.” The voice was calm but firm and authoritative.  
  
Edge blinked awake.  
  
“Come over here.”  
  
Edge moved to sit up but stopped when he heard the clink of his chains.  
  
“You won’t even try to obey me?”  
  
Edge’s ears flattened rebelliously as he got off the bed and slowly walked toward the king until the chains went taut.  
  
“Well?”  
  
Edge pulled peremptorily at the chains, trying to make them clank. Perhaps the noise would satisfy Asgore that he was attempting to obey his instructions, although even this little bit of strategizing felt too deceptive for his tastes. Asgore seemed content to watch him from across the room. Edge was tempted to give up—it was obvious he wasn’t going anywhere, and he’d made as much of a good-faith effort as he could—but he abhorred giving up, so he kept pressing against the heavy iron collar, his feet sliding back across the floor with each step.  
  
“What’s taking so long?” Asgore asked, feigning irritation very convincingly.  
  
“I’m—sorry, Sire. I can’t.” Edge burned with humiliation, but he refused to let it show.  
  
The king was silent for a long moment, and Edge was afraid he wouldn’t accept the excuse. Then Asgore chuckled coldly. “All right. I’ll come to you. Prepare yourself.” Edge had no doubt that what came next would be even less pleasant.  
  
Shuddering in revulsion, Edge lay back on the bed and summoned his magic. He knew from experience that Asgore wouldn’t bother to prepare him, so this was his chance to do anything he could to make the overall experience less painful for himself. His pride rebelled against it—he would rather endure the pain than cooperate—but he’d sworn to obey the king, and besides, it might reduce the chances of injury.  
  
After only a few moments, the king leaned over him, running his tongue from Edge’s collar bone up the length of his face. It was wider than his skull, and he knew from experience that his entire skull fit in the king’s mouth. It was naturally alarming, but he wasn’t actually afraid—yet. If the king removed his chains, then he would start to worry; he doubted even Asgore could bite through the thick iron links.  
  
“Let’s hope we’re successful today,” the king whispered into his ear.  
  
Asgore wanted an heir, and Edge was beginning to think it would be in the best interest of his survival if he fell pregnant sooner rather than later. A small part of his mind wondered if this was what Stretch had felt like, being mated to Edge. But that was ridiculous. Perhaps there were a couple superficial similarities, but he’d only chained the bunny up for his own safety, and only for a short time. And he hadn’t deliberately tried to get Stretch pregnant; they’d just been blessed with kits early on. He wondered if Red had sent him any more photos of his kits, at least. Perhaps if he was cooperative and obedient, Asgore would eventually give back his phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Edge suffered after all. Yay?


End file.
